UC-NRLF 


^3 


GREGORY 

.  .  ON  .  . 

P£RTILtI2HRS« 


http://www.archive.org/details/fertilizerswhereOOgregrich 


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FERTILIZERS. 


WHERE  THE  MATERIALS  COME  FROM. 


WHERE  TO  GET  THEM  IN  THE  CHEAPEST  FORM, 


HOW  TO  COMPOUND  FORMULAS,  ETC.,  ETC. 


BY 


J.   J.   H.   GREGORY,  A.M., 

AUTHOB  OF  WORKS  ON  CABBAGK -RAISING,  ONION-RAISING,  SQUASH-RAISIHe,  STC 


Copyb:ght,  18«3, 
Bt  0.  J.  H.  GREGORir. 


»»•.<• 


PREFACE, 


This  treatise  is  by  a  farmer  for  farmers.  Using  forty 
or  fifty  tons  of  commercial  fertilizers  on  my  own  crops 
annually,  I  have  been  compelled  to  "  book  myself  up,"  as 
the  phrase  is,  —  to  learn  the  cheapest  market  in  which  to 
buy  the  elements,  the  best  way  to  combine  these,  and  the 
wisest  way  to  apply  them  to  the  different  crops  of  the  farm. 
This  treatise  is  the  result  of  the  study  of  various  works 
on  agricultural  chemistry,  especially  the  excellent  reports 
that  have  been  sent  out  from  our  agricultural  stations 
by  Professors.  Johnson  and  Atwater,  Goessmann,  Dabney, 
Caldwell,  and  others,  to  whom  our  sense  of  indebtedness 
will  be  measured  by  the  growth  of  our  intelligence.  This 
study,  combined  with  personal  observation  and  experience, 
makes  up  my  little  book.  My  treatise  is  not  a  work  on 
barn  manure :  it  is  confined,  for  the  most  part,  to  fertilizers. 
It  can  perform  no  miracles :  to  ask  that  it  shall  show  every 
one  the  road  to  success  in  the  profitable  raising  of  his 
crops  would  be  as  reasonable  as  was  the  search  of  the 
alchemist  of  old  for  the  wonderful  alembic  that  was  to 
transmute  every  thing  to  gold.     The  whole  matter  of  soil 

240791  •" 


IV  PREFACE. 

action  and  plant-growth  is  wonderfully  complex ;  and  so 
far  from  the  old  axiom  being  true,  that  any  man  can  be 
a  farmer,  we  find  that  farming,  in  the  problems  it  presents 
for  solution,  is  a  calling  that  challenges  the  best  ability 
and  the  best  culture  to  be  found  among  men.  To  give  a 
history  of  the  three  principal  elements  which  enter  into 
the  composition  of  fertilizers,  to  discuss  their  relations  to 
plant-growth  in  the  various  forms  in  which  they  exist,  to 
tell  in  what  form  and  where  they  may  be  obtained  at  the 
lowest  rates,  to  tell  how  they  may  be  combined  and 
applied' in  the  wisest  way,  brother  farmers,  is  the  object 
of  this  treatise.  Should  it  prove  desirable  to  enlarge  the 
subject,  I  may  take  up  barn  and  various  other  manures  in 
another  work. 

To  those  who  desire  to  study  the  subject  of.  plants  and 
plant-growth  more  extensively,  I  would  recommend  such 
excellent  works  as  "  How  Crops  Grow  "  and  "  How  Crops 
Feed,"  by  Professor  Johnson  ;  "  Botanical  Text-Book,"  by 
Professor  Grey ;  and  "  Harris  on  Manures." 


CONTENTS, 


PAOB 

Introduction 1 

Difference  between  Barn  Manure  and  Commercial  Fertilizers ...  6 

What  is  Barnyard  Manure  ? 8 

Humus 12 

Are  Fertilizers  but  Stimulants  ? 13 

Potash 16 

Wood  Ashes 23 

Coal  Ashes 29 

Cotton-Seed  Hulls 29 

The  Uses  of  Potash  in  Agriculture 

What  is  Nitrogen  ? 

Where  Nitrogen  or  Ammonia  comes  from 35 

How  to  Handle  Fish- Waste,  and  the  Best  Way  to  Feed  it  to  the  Crops,  40 

Other  Sources  for  Nitrogen 44 

Phosphoric  Acid 54 

Bones,  and  where  they  come  from 57 

Making  our  own  Superphosphate 58 

Reduction  of  Unground  Bone 64 

The  Theories  of  Fertilizing 68 

Testing  our  Soils 72 

A  Faith  that  is  Dangerous ;  Buying  Cheap  Fertilizers     .....  74 

Making  our  own  Fertilizers 77 

The  Manufacturers  of  Fertilizers 78 

Leather-Waste 79 

Some  Facts  and  Suggestions 81 

Fertilizing  Ingredients  in  Raw  Materials  and  Chemicals 84 

Commercial  and  Agricultural  Values  of  Fertilizers 86 

Where  to  Obtain  our  Fertilizing  Material  at  the  Lowest  Cost  ...  86 

Formulas,  and  how  to  Compound  them 90 

Formulas  for  Various  Crops 91 

How  to  Compound  our  own  Formulas 94 

Some  Formulas  as  Compounded 96 

Condensation  of  Special  and  other  Formulas 98 

How  to  Mix  the  Ingredients  that  enter  into  a  Formula 101 

Applying  Fertilizers 102 

The  System  of  Manuring  with  Unleached  Wood  Ashes 103 

Fertilizers  Excellent  for  Various  Crops,  and  Suggestions     ....  105 

Composts 108 

American  Analyses  of  Composition  of  Fertilizing  Materials    .     .  Ill,  112 

Estimates  of  Cost  of  Plant-Food  in  Crops 114 

A  Plea  for  Mercy 115 


FERTILIZEK8. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Chemists  tell  us  that  water,  and  this  air  around  us,  that 
we  can  neither  see  nor  grasp,  and  which  in  all  our  every- 
day calculations  of  space  we  take  no  account  of,  make  up 
from  eighty-eight  to  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  our  crops,  our 
trees,  or  any  form  of  vegetable  growth.  Practically,  we 
know  this  is  so ;  for  we  can  bring  out  in  a  bushel-basket 
all  the  ashes  made  from  a  load  of  wood  that  it  might  take 
a  couple  of  yoke  of  oxen  to  draw  in.  A  wood  cord  is  about 
one  hundred  bushels  ;  in  the  ashes  which  contain  the  min- 
erals that  entered  into  the  make-up  of  that  wood,  we  get 
not  more  than  two  per  cent  of  this.  The  great  remainder, 
after  yielding  that  heat  which  the  sun  has  fed  to  it  for,  it 
may  be,  a  hundred  years,  in  the  form  of  vapor  and  gases 
hurries  up  the  chimney,  to  return  to  mother-air,  from 
whence  they  came.  Plant-life  builds  up  the  mighty  tree, 
borrowing  almost  nothing  from  the  soil.  It  is  the  weight 
of  the  air  and  the  water  present  in  its  structure  that  our 
oxen  strain  under  when  hauling  to  mill  the  trunk  of  some 
huge  veteran  of  the  forest.  All  that  it  has  taken  from 
the  soil  to  make  up  its  huge  bulk  the  driver  might  carry 
in  a  bag  on  his  shoulder,  and  then  have  to  go  some  distance 
to  get  an  appetite  for  breakfast.     In  brief,  to  express  it  in 

1 


^  FERTILIZERS. 

.      .      .       •      <  o  ( 

a 'familiar- way,  i&^ii  does  but  little  more  than  help  plants. 
;  ^tand  .upright ;  while  water  and  air,  obeying  chemical 
'  laws,  build  up  their  structure.  And  what  is  soil?  It  is 
the  result  of  the  destruction  of  the  rocks  mingled  with 
vegetable  waste ;  it  is  the  turning  of  all  life,  organic  and 
inorganic,  into  its  original  elements ;  it  is  the  great  grave- 
yard of  creation ;  it  is  the  great  mine  of  the  world,  out 
from  which  come  the  food  of  all  animal  and  vegetable 
life,  the  wherewithal  they  shall  be  clothed,  the  means  of 
shelter  and  protection  from  heat,  cold,  and  wet ;  it  is 
Mother  Earth,  from  whom  all  organized  life  springs,  and 
to  whom,  after  completing  its  little  round,  all  matter  that 
enters  therein  returns,  to  repose  a  while  within  her  bosom, 
there  to  rest  and  refresh  itself  before  entering  into  new 
forms,  and  running  another  course  of  vitality. 

"  The  earth  is  my  mother,"  said  Red  Jacket,  the  Indian 
orator,  at  the  Great  Council,  declining  a  chair  offered  him  : 
"  I  will  rest  upon  her  bosom."  Yes,  she  is  the  material 
mother  of  all  organized  life;  and,  when  their  course  is 
ended,  all  her  children  go  home  to  her. 

The  giant  of  the  forest  may  span  his  thousand  years 
of  time,  and,  towering  upward  a  hundred  feet  above  his 
fellows,  may  seem  to  despise  his  humble  origin ;  but  his 
mother  is  patiently  waiting  for  him :  and,  hoary  with 
years,  worn  and  weary,  seeking  rest,  he  bows  his  lofty 
head,  falls  upon  her  breast,  and  receives  her  final  embrace. 
Man  himself,  standing  at  the  head  of  all  organized  life, 
in  sleep,  imago  mortis,  reclines  by  instinct  on  her  bosom ; 
and,  when  comes  the  final  hour,  his  material  self  by  loving 
hands  is  gently  lowered  into  her  yearning  care,  "  dust  unto 
dust."  If  any  man  could  really  believe  that  this  is  the 
final  end,  he  would  that  instant  die  of  horror,  or  become 
insane.  The  cheer  that  every  good  deed  leaves  in  our 
hearts  is  full  of  the  instinct  of  immortality. 


FERTILIZERS.  3 

If  we  give  the  bushel  of  ashes  into  the  hands  of  the 
chemist,  to  tell  us  what  it  is  made  of,  he  will  return  us 
silicon,  potassium,  calcium,  phosphorus,  sodium,  alumin^ 
ium,  sulphur,  iron,  chlorine,  magnesium.  These  are  the 
elements  that  all  plants  take  from  the  soil.  The  soil  itself 
obtained  them  originally  from  the  ledges  of  solid  rock, 
which  through  eons  of  years  have  been  slowly  disinte- 
grating and  decomposing.  Geology  tells  us,  that,  by  the 
action  of  the  drift  waves  of  ancient  eras,  mountains  of 
water  six  thousand  feet  or  more  in  height  swept  from  the. 
north,  breaking  down,  filling  up,  and  smoothing  off,  the 
ragged,  craggy  surface  of  the  ancient  lava-covered  earth ; 
by  later  glacial  action,  and  that  of  water  and  frost,  which 
extend  into  the  human  period,  the  rocks  have  been  ground 
up,  and  scattered  over  a  large  portion  of  the  surface  of 
our  planet  in  gravelly  hills  and  plains,  covered  more  or 
less  by  vegetable  matter,  through  which  protrude,  in  places* 
the  rocky  ribs  of  the  ancient  earth.  This  soil  is  but  a 
sprinkling  on  the  surface  of  our  globe.  At  a  depth  of  but 
a  few  hundred  feet,  at  the  utmost,  on  any  spot  of  its  mil- 
lions of  miles  of  surface,  we  would  strike  rock,  solid  to 
the  great  lava  centres. 

The  principal  ledges  from  which  have  come  originally 
the  mineral  matter  of  the  soil,  are  of  the  granite  class. 
These  yield  the  minerals  felspar,  mica,  hornblende,  and 
quartz ;  and  they,  the  silicon,  potash,  iron,  alumina,  soda, 
lime,  and  manganese.  The  sedimentary  rocks,  of  which  the 
various  slates  are  a  type,  have  the  particles  in  a  finer  forin 
than  they  exist  in  the  parent  primary  rocks ;  and  hence  the 
soils  formed  from  these,  such  as  the  clays,  have  the  mineral 
constituents  in  a  finer  condition.  But  the  finest  subdivis- 
ion  of  all,  in  which  the  mineral  matter  of  the  soil  exists, 
is  that  supplied  by  dead  plant  and  animal  life,  into  whose 
structure  the  minerals  entered  in  so  fine  a  state  as  to  be 
held  in  solution  by  water. 


<k  FERTILIZERS. 

In  felspar  and  mica  we  have  the  great  natural  store- 
houses of  potash;  the  former  containing  seventeen  per 
cent,  and  the  latter  nine  per  cent.  It  has  been  estimated 
from  tests  on  a  small  scale,  that,  in  soils  from  granite 
taken  to  the  depth  of  twenty  inches,  on  an  acre  of  land 
the  potash  from  the  felspar  alone  is  over  one  million  two 
hundred  thousand  pounds.  What  this  means  may  be  in- 
ferred when  we  consider  that  it  has  been  computed  that 
two  cubic  feet  of  felspar  contains  sufficient  potash  to 
supply  the  wants  of  an  acre  of  young  oaks  for  five  years. 

Not  only  is  the  soil  of  the  earth  to  be  supplied  with 
mineral  matter,  but  the  ocean  also,  to  enable  her  to  furnish 
food  for  her  many  forms  of  marine  life,  both  animal  and 
vegetable.  Water,  percolating  through  the  soil,  with  the 
help  of  the  carbonic  acid  it  holds  in  solution,  which  it  has 
derived  mostly  from  the  air,  dissolves  an  infinitesimally 
small  portion  of  mineral  ingredients,  and  carries  them  to 
the  streams  and  rivers ;  and  these  run  on,  with  their  invisi- 
ble freight  of  soda,  potash,  chlorine,  and  other  minerals,  to 
the  ocean.  Here,  nothing  but  water  being  evaporated,  the 
mineral  strength  increases  ;  and  in  the  kelps,  sea-mosses, 
rock-weed,  and  eel-grass  which  we  gather  along  the  shore, 
and  carry  back  on  the  land  to  manure  our  farms,  or  in 
the  waste  fish  we  handle,  we  find  the  identical  manurial 
elements  that  exist  in  the  various  land  plants  which  we 
feed  to  our  animals.  And  we  find,  moreover,  that  these 
elements  are  about  equally  well  proportioned  for  plant- 
food. 

The  rocks  of  the  little  State  of  Massachusetts  have 
locked  up  in  them,  it  is  safe  to  say,  all  the  potash,  the  sili- 
con, the  iron,  the  alumina,  the  soda,  necessary  to  supply 
the  population  of  the  whole  earth,  from  now  to  the  end  of 
time,  with  all  of  these  ingredients  that  enter  into  their 
daily  food,  provided    they  were  made    soluble,  and  were 


FERTILIZEES.  5 

not  wasted.  The  soil  of  Massachusetts  could  doubtless 
grow  food  sufficient  to  feed  a  population  of  a  million  and 
a  half  of  inhabitants,  without  a  spoonful  of  manure  being 
needed  beyond  her  own  natural  resources,  and  continue  to 
do  this  through  all  time,  could,  from  the  beginning,  all  ex- 
cremental  waste  made  from  the  consumption  of  such  food 
have  been  returned  to  it.  We  say  that  soil  is  an  accumu- 
lation of  broken  rock,  decomposed  minerals,  and  disor- 
ganized organic  matter,  the  waste  of  Nature's  workshop,  — 
a  dead  mass.     And  so  it  is,  from  the  organic  stand-point. 

But  there  is  a  chemical  as  well  as  an  organic  life ;  and 
from  this  stand-point,  in  the  loam  we  turn  with  the  plough, 
apparently  so  inert  and  dead,  there  is  a  life  of  unceasing 
activity  throughout  the  growing  season,  which  rests  only 
when  paralyzed  by  the  frosts  of  winter.  So  complicated 
is  it  in  its  action  and  re-action,  its  marriages  and  divorces, 
in  utter  disregard  of  all  moral  laws  in  seeking  its  affini- 
ties, that  it  presents  some  of  the  most  complicated  prob- 
lems to  be  found  in  physical  science.  The  utmost  that 
has  been  attained  is  the  possible  and  probable.  The  man 
who  could  tell  the  world  exactly  the  composition  of  a  rod 
of  ground,  and  the  daily  changes  that  took  place  in  it 
during  the  growing  season,  and  how  these  affect  the  ma- 
nures applied,  and  how  they  affect  it,  and  how  the  results 
of  these  actions  and  re-actions  affect  the  growing  crop, 
would  take  his  place  among  the  immortals  without  a  dis- 
senting voice  from  among  his  fellow-men. 

Chemical  action  is  mineral  instinct^  or,  more  accurately, 
a  demonstration  of  the  existence  of  such  instinct. 

Higher  than  mineral  instinct  stands  plant-life.  Plants 
have  more  than  life,  they  have  intelligent  volition.  Plant- 
life  builds  up  the  structure  ;  while  plant  instinct,  active  at 
the  little  spongioles,  dissolves  from  the  rocks,  or  selects 
from  the  soil,  with  unerring  accuracy,  the  materials  needed. 


6  FERTILIZERS. 

The  order  in  creation,  then,  is,  that  the  rocks  supply  the 
minerals ;  plants  feed  on  these  minerals ;  animals  feed  on 
these  plants ;  while  omnivorous  man,  lord  of  all,  feeds  on 
both  minerals  and  plants. 

Chemists  have  settled  the  fact  that  most  of  the  dozen 
elements  that  enter  into  the  composition  of  plants  are 
found  in  sufficient  quantity  in  almost  all  soils,  leaving  but 
potash,  nitrogen,  and  phosphoric  acid  as  the  three  essen- 
tials, more  or  less  of  each  of  which,  as  a  general  rule,  we 
farmers  must  supply  to  the  soil  if  we  plant  for  a  crop ; 
though  on  some  soils,  such  as  muck  meadows,  lime  and 
silicon  in  some  form  may  be  necessary  adjuncts.  We  pro- 
pose to  discuss  these,  and. the  sources  from  which  they  are 
obtained. 

Before  taking  up  in  detail  the  three  essential  elements 
of  plant-food,  let  us  here  discuss  the  difference  that  is 
assumed  to  exist  between  them  as  they  exist  in  barn 
manure  and  commercial  fertilizers. 

WHAT  IS  THE  DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  BARN  MANURE  AND 
COMMERCIAL  FERTILIZERS  ? 

All  plant-food  is  manure ;  and  all  manure  is  plant-food, 
whether  it  is  in  the  form  of  the  artificial  products,  —  which 
are  known  among  farmers  as  "artificial  manures,"  "chemi- 
cal fertilizers,"  —  or  is  the  natural  product  of  the  barn 
yard :  and  the  feeding  value  of  each  is  measured  in  the  same 
way  ;  viz.,  by  the  quantity  they  contain  of  the  three  essen- 
tial elements,  viz.,  nitrogen,  potash,  and  phosphoric  acid, 
and  the  digestible  condition  in  which  these  elements  exist. 
The  great  bugbear  dealers  in  fertilizers  have  to  contend 
with  in  dealing  with  us  farmers  is,  the  deeply  rooted  belief 
that  the  only  real  manure  is  that  which  comes  out  of  the 
barnyard,  and  that  all  other  forms  in  which  it  is  presented 
are  mere  makeshifts. 


FERTILIZERS.  7 

Where  do  the  fertilizing  elements  in  barn  manure  come 
from  ?  From  the  food  animals  eat.  But  do  all  the  fertilize 
ing  elements  in  the  food  find  their  way  to  the  manure  ? 
Certainly  not ;  a  portion  of  them  are  used  to  promote  the 
growth  of  the  animal,  going  into  its  flesh  and  bones.  Is 
there  not,  then,  in  the  body  of  the  animal,  which  has  in  it 
a  part  of  the  fertilizing  elements  contained  in  the  food, 
plant-food  also,  as  well  as  in  the  manure  that  passes 
through  it  ?  Every  farmer  will  assent  to  this.  As  it  has 
less  water  and  waste  in  its  composition  than  the  manure 
itself,  is  it  not  more  concentrated  plant-food?  Now,  it 
is  these  bones,  blood,  flesh,  and  other  waste  that  are  used 
in  fertilizers  as  one  of  the  principal  sources  for  ammonia 
and  phosphoric  acid,  —  ammonia  in  the  dried  blood  and 
flesh,  and  phosphoric  acid  in  the  bones,  —  to  carry  back  to 
earth  the  plant-food  received  from  it.  What  is  the  differ- 
ence, then,  between  using  the  manure  of  an  animal  as 
plant-food,  and  using  the  animal  himself  as  plant-food? 
Simply,  that  we  get  more  water  and  waste  in  the  one  case 
than  in  the  other. 

Go  into  the  fields,  and  study  the  crops  of  the  Great 
Farmer  of  the  universe.  From  the  majestic  Sequoia^  that 
tower  toward  high  heaven,  even  to  the  tiny  hyssop,  that 
creepeth  on  the  wall,  observe  the  green  mantle  of  his 
mighty  domain  thrown  over  the  mountains  that  span  a  con- 
tinent, and  trailing  along  their  thousand  valleys,  contrast- 
ing, in  its  vast  amplitude,  with  the  patches  of  soil  on  which 
dwell  nations,  covering  every  latitude  and  enveloping  all 
continents  in  its  mighty  folds  up  to  the  great  icy  circles. 
How  does  the  Great  Farmer  raise  his  crops  ?  Take  your 
spade,  and  dig  down  into  the  soil.  Do  you  find  any  ham 
manure  there  ?  Go  out  on  the  boundless  prairies  of  the  far 
West,  "  where  bounteous  nature  only,  tills  the  willing  soil." 
Do  you  find  any  barn  manure  there  ?     They  waved  their 


8  FERTILIZERS. 

oceans  of  verdure  thousands  of  years  before  the  human 
era.  Enter  the  limitless  woods,  and  ask  the  giant  pines 
for  the  secret  of  their  towering  robustness.  Was  it  barn 
manure  ? 

Sajs  Bruckner,  "  Farmers,  accustomed  to  think  of  ma- 
nure as  a  bulky  article,  want  bulk  for  their  money.  They 
are  slow  to  realize  that  a  little  of  the  substance  needed  is 
better  than  a  good  deal  that  is  not  needed." 

I  will  say,  at  the  outset,  that  this  little  treatise  is  not 
designed  to  be  a  tilt  against  barnyard  manure :  that  will 
always  have  its  place  in  agriculture,  as  I  find,  myself,  in 
the  great  quantities  I  use  annually  in  my  own  farming 
operations.  But  I  would  like  to  see  the  circulars  of  some 
of  the  dealers  in  fertilizers  take  a  little  bolder  stand,  and 
not  say,  that,  after  we  have  used  all  our  barn  manure,  then 
comes  the  time  to  buy  fertilizers,  but  to  declare  that  there 
are  crops  which  can  be  raised  decidedly  cheaper  on  fertil- 
izers, besides  ripening  earlier  (as  corn),  and  being  of 
better  quality  (as  potatoes),  and  that  it  would  always  be 
decidedly  better  to  use  a  part  or  all  of  fertilizers  on  such 
crops,  and  give  what  manure  we  have  remaining  to  the 
acres  of  grass-lands  that  would  be  fertilized  by  it  on  every 
farm.  I  contend  for  a  broad  handling  of  this  subject  of 
plant-food,  and  a  recognition  of  the  true  value  of  it  in 
every  form  in  which  it  exists. 

WHAT  IS  BARNYARD  MANURE? 

I  took  a  little  of  it,  fresh  from  the  horse-stall,  and  dried 
all  the  water  out  of  it  on  the  hearth,  and  was  surprised  at 
the  result.  On  breaking  it  up  fine,  all  I  could  find,  by  the 
closest  scrutiny  with  the  naked  eye,  was  a  mass  of  bits  of 
hay,  ranging  from  a  third  of  an  inch  long  to  so  small  as  to 
be  barely  visible  ^  and  I  will  defy  any  one  with  the  naked 
eye  to  find  any  thing  else.     Many  of  the  fragments  of  the 


FERTILIZERS.  9 

hay  had  suffered  so  little  change,  that  they  yet  shone 
in  the  light.  The  whole  mass  had  a  yellowish  color,  and 
smelt  as  manure  smells ;  but  the  puzzle  was,  to  find  any 
thing  in  it  that  could  be  called  manure.  There  were  frag- 
ments of  hay,  a  slight  color,  and  nothing  else.  Now, 
where  was  the  plant-food  in  it?  The  potash,  ammonia, 
and  phosphoric  acid  evidently  must  have  been  hidden 
among,  or  soaked  into,  the  fragments  of  hay.  I  found,  by 
weighing  it  before  and  after  it  had  dried,  that  it  lost 
seven-tenths  of  its  original  weight ;  in  other  words,  seven- 
tenths  of  its  weight  was  water.  Now,  fresh  barnyard 
manure  has  been  analyzed,  and  found  to  contain  the 
following  kind  and  quantity  of  elements :  — 

Water 71.3 

Nitrogen 0.5 

Silica  and  insoluble  matter 10.5 

Alumina  and  oxide  of  iron 0.7 

Lime 0.5 

Potash 0.4 

Soda 0.1 

Phosphoric  acid 0.5 

Chlorine       .        .        .        .       • 0.1 

Now,  taking  a  cord  of  average  stable  manure,  which 
will  average  in  weight  about  4,500  pounds,  we  should 
have  in  it  3,208  pounds  of  water,  22i  pounds  of  nitrogen, 
47  2i  pounds  of  silica,  31 J  pounds  of  alumina  and  iron, 
22i  pounds  of  lime,  13^  pounds  of  magnesia,  18  pounds  of 
potash,  4J  pounds  of  soda,  4J  pounds  of  sulphuric  acid, 
22i  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  4i  pounds  of  chlorine. 
Taking  a  common  one-horse  load  of  two  cord-feet,  and  it 
would  contain,  of  water,  802  pounds ;  of  nitrogen,  about  5  J 
pounds ;  silica^  about  118  pounds ;  of  alumina,  6J  pounds ; 
lime,  3i  pounds ;  magnesia,  3  J  pounds ;  potash,  4i  pounds ; 


10  FERTILIZERS. 

soda,  1  pound ;  sulphuric  acid,  1  pound ;  phosphoric  acid, 
5  J  pounds  ;  chlorine,  1  pound. 

Now,  while  you  are  urging  on  the  faithful  old  horse, 
sweating  and  tugging  at  his  load  through  the  mud,  into 
the  soft  ploughed  ground,  where  the  wheels  sink  nearly 
to  the  hubs,  put  on  your  thinking-cap,  and  consider  that 
in  that  load  you  are  teaming  802  pounds  of  water  on  youi 
land ;  and  what  in  the  world  do  we  want  to  do  that  for, 
with  the  ground  already  so  wet  that  we  don't  dare  stick  a 
plough  into  it,  and  are  waiting  anxiously  for  the  sun  to 
look  out  with  power,  and  dry  it  up  ?  You  are  teaming  14 
pounds  of  silica,  which  is  another  name  for  sand,  —  carrying 
coals  to  Newcastle ;  for,  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  the  soil  has 
already  a  good  deal  more  sand  in  its  composition  than  you 
want  there.  Of  the  iron,  lime,  soda,  and  chlorine,  already, 
as  a  rule,  the  soil  has  all  it  needs ;  leaving  but  the  nitrogen, 
the  potash,  and  the  phosphoric  acid  as  the  only  parts  oi 
the  big  load  that  are  really  needed  by  the  crop,  no  matter 
what  that  is  to  be.  And  the  54  pounds  of  nitrogen,  as  fai 
as  weight  goes,  would  not  be  a  heavy  load  for  one^  coat- 
pocket,  nor  the  5i  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid  for  uPOcher, 
nor  the  4i  pounds  of  potash  for  the  third.  liowerer,  there 
is  a  little  of  fiction  in  this ;  for  though  it  is  literally  true  that 
all  there  is  of  value  in  that  horse-load  of  manure  for  the  pro- 
duction of  whatever  crop  you  intend  to  plant,  is  the  nitro 
gen,  potash,  and  phosphoric  acid,  which  altogethr  weigh  but 
15i  pounds,  still,  it  is  practically  not  possible  to  carry  them 
to  the  field  in  a  pure  form :  yet  in  the  form  of  sulphate  of 
ammonia  for  nitrogen,  phosphate  of  lime  from  bones,  and 
muriate  of  potash  for  potash,  they  would  altogether  weigh 
52  pounds,  and  might  easily  be  carried  in  a  bushel-basket, 
which  they  would  but  little  more  than  half  fill,  and  yet 
have  in  them  all  the  manure  value  contained  in  that  two 
feet  of  manure  which  the  old  horse  is  tugging  at. 


FERTILIZERS.  11 

Why  should  we  farmers  insist  upon  it,  that  bulk  is 
necessary  in  manure  ?  We  do  not  so  insist  when  we  use 
ashes,  lime,  or  plaster;  but  then,  we  look  upon  them  — 
at  least,  the  two  latter  —  as  agricultural  miracles,  though 
there  is  nothing  miraculous  about  them.  If  bulk  is  so 
desirable  in  feeding  crops,  then  why  not,  in  feeding  our- 
selves corn,  eat  stalk,  cob,  and  husk  ?  or,  with  the  kernel 
of  wheat,  eat  the  straw  and  husk  which  grew  with  it  ? 
Just  as  the  store  of  the  apothecary,  in  the  neat  jars  and 
phials  on  his  long,  narrow  shelves,  supplies  us  all  that  is 
really  valuable  in  a  mass  of  medicinal  herbs  that  in  their 
natural  state  would  fill  his  shop  solid  full  many  times 
over,  so  in  commercial  fertilizers  we  find  concentrated  all 
that  is  valuable  as  plant-food  in  a  mass  of  barn  manure  a 
hundred  times  as  bulky. 

The  objection  sometimes  urged  against  the  use  of  fer- 
ilizers,  that  they  do  not  leave  so  much  food  in  the  ground 
lor  the  crop  that  follows,  is,  I  consider,  an  argument  for 
them  The  plant-food  in  them  is  in  so  digestible  a  condi- 
tion, that  the  crop  we  plant  can  get  about  all  of  it :  whereas, 
in  using  barn  manure,  the  food  is  not  all  in  such  condition  ; 
and  to  get  the  same  result  the  first  season,  we  must  put 
on  more  manure  than  the  crop  would  need,  provided  the 
ingredients  became  plant-food  the  same  season.  Fertilizers 
in  some  form  can  be  made  to  last,  like  barn  manure,  and 
feed  several  successive  crops  with  a  single  application,  if  it 
is  desired.  For  instance,  in  ashes  and  bone  we  have  all 
the  three  elements  for  a  complete  manure.  Now  apply  an 
extra  quantity  of  the  ashes,  and  apply  a  portion  of  the 
bone  in  a  coarse  state.  Ashes  are  always  enduring  in 
their  effect ;  and  the  coarse  bone  will  be  years  in  decaying, 
and  setting  free  nitrogen  and  phosphoric  acid. 


12  FERTILIZERS. 

HUMUS. 

There  is,  however,  a  value  in  barn  manure  in  addition 
to  its  fertilizing  properties.  Its  bulk  has  a  mechanical 
effect  on  the  soil,  improving  heavy  soils,  and  lightening 
the  texture  of  all  soils,  —  a  fact  of  especial  value  to  market 
gardeners  in  their  early  crops.  By  its  partial  decomposi- 
tion, it  adds  to  the  mass  of  dark-brown  earth  which  we 
so  especially  notice  in  old  gardens,  and  which  goes  under 
the  name  of  humus.  Humus  is  dead  vegetable  and  animal 
matter  in  process  of  decay.  In  the  surface  twelve  inches 
of  good  soil,  there  is,  in  a  latent  condition,  about  fifteen 
hundred  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  fifteen  hundred  pounds 
of  potash,  and  seventeen  hundred  pounds  of  lime.  Car- 
bonic acid  changes  these  into  plant-food.  Now,  humus, 
by  its  decay,  develops  carbonic  acid,  and  so  brings  about 
the  decomposition  of  this  latent  food.  Wet  weather  favors 
this  action.  That  carbonic  acid  has  this  power  to  set  free 
plant-food  in  the  soil,  has  been  proved  by  the  experiments 
of  Professor  Stockhardt.  Our  crops  take  up  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  fertilizers  we  apply  before  the  nutrient  sub- 
stances they  contain  become  insoluble.  The  humus  keeps 
them  in  a  soluble  condition,  which  is  an  argument  for  the 
use  of  barn  manure,  muck,  or  the  ploughing-under  of  sod 
or  green  crops,  in  connection  with  the  use  of  fertilizers. 
It  acts  as  a  sponge,  to  absorb  and  hold  moisture  in  low, 
black  soils,  which  are  made  up  of  dead  vegetable  matter 
in  a  state  of  semi-decay,  halfway  towards  coal,  —  a  carbo- 
naceous mass  of  stems,  roots,  and  leaves.  Burnt,  it  makes 
an  ashes  red,  from  the  presence  of  iron,  having  but  one- 
sixth  the  potash  to  be  found  in  hard-wood  ashes.  The 
trouble  with  the  humus  of  soil  of  a  mucky  nature  for  till- 
age purposes  is,  that  when  dry  it  takes  up  water  very 
slowly;   and  it  takes,  therefore,  a  good  deal  of  rain  tc 


FERTILIZERS.  13 

moisten  it:  while,  on  the  other  hand,  when  wet,  it  keeps 
wet  and  cold  too  long  for  the  health  of  vegetation.  With- 
out draining,  manure  is  a  waste  on  such  soils.  I  once  top- 
dressed  such  a  meadow  for  two  or  three  years,  to  get  but 
wild  dandelion,  that  was  not  worth  the  money.  I  deepened 
the  outlet,  and  now  can  cut  three  good  crops  of  grass  from 
it  every  year. 

Humus  holds  a  great  store  of  carbonic  acid ;  which  de- 
composes the  minerals  in  the  soil,  setting  free  potash  and 
phosphoric  acid.  It  also  holds  latent  nitrogen,  sometimes 
as  high  as  three  per  cent,  which  is  six  times  as  much  as 
in  average  stable  manure.  This  is  made  plant-food  by  the 
application  of  lime  or  carbonate  of  potash.  It  is  the  great 
argument  for  the  use  of  barn  manure  in  preference  to 
commercial  fertilizers,  that  it  forms  humus;  but  we  can 
gain  the  same  end  by  turning  under  a  grass  or  clover  sod, 
cow-pease,  or  a  green  crop,  and  these  we  can  raise  hy  com- 
viercial  fertilizers. 

Humus  is  not  in  itself  plant-food.  It  is  not  necessary 
for  the  yield  of  heavy  crops. 


ARE  FERTILIZERS  BUT  STIMULANTS? 

The  old-fashioned  farmer  is  apt  to  look  askance  on  this 
new-fangled  fashion  of  manuring,  call  fertilizers  "medi- 
cine, stimulants,"  ''  a  sure  way  to  run  out  the  land." 

To  continually  apply  but  a  single  one  of  the  three  ele- 
ments which  enter  into  the  complete  manure,  and  especially 
if  that  one  should  be  nitrogen,  and  for  a  series  of  years  be 
in  marked  excess  of  the  other  two,  would  in  the  end,  sooner 
or  later,  prove  that  the  old  farmer  was  right  in  his  conclu- 
sion, however  faulty  he  might  be  in  his  reasoning.  Let 
me  here  emphasize  the  fact  repeatedly  proved,  and  that 
squares  with  common  sense  ;  viz.,  that  the  one  of  the  three 


14  FERTILIZERS. 

elements,  nitrogen,  potash,  or  phosphoric  acid,  of  which  the 
soil  has  the  least,  will  always  be  the  measure  of  the  crop. 

A  hundred  pounds  of  potash  applied  would  not  give  a 
larger  yield  than  five  pounds  (and  so  of  the  other  two 
elements)  if  there  is  not  a  proportionate  increase  of  the 
other  elements. 

Says  Professor  At  water,  in  his  generalizations  from  over 
a  hundred  carefully  studied  experiments,  "  Either  the  com- 
bined testimony  of  these  experiments,  similar  ones  else- 
where, and  the  best  experience,  are  totally  false,  or  chemical 
fertilizers  bring  larger,  better,  and  even  surer  crops  than 
farm  manure.  .  ..  Artificial  fertilizers  rightly  used  must 
prove  among  the  most  potent  means  for  the  restoration  of 
our  agriculture."  The  professor  makes  this  general  rec- 
ommendation :  "  For  general  farming,  at  a  distance  from 
the  large  markets,  the  chief  use  of  commercial  fertilizers 
should  be  to  supplement  the  manure  of  the  farm.  The 
right  way  is,  to  make  the  most  and  best  manure  that  is 
practicable  upon  the  farm,  and  piece  out  with  such  com- 
mercial fertilizers  as  experiments  and  experience  prove 
profitable.  At  the  same  time,  there  are  many  cases,  espe- 
cially near  cities,  where  every  thing  depends  on  getting 
the  largest  and  best  (and  earliest)  yield,  where  the  more 
exclusive  use  of  chemical  fertilizers  is  advisable."  This 
is  sound  sense ;  but  I  would  modify  it  somewhat  by  advis- 
ing to  use  fertilizers  on  leachy  soil  in  preference  to  barn 
manure,  depending  on  occasional  laying-down  to  grass  to 
improve  the  texture  of  such  soil.  Also,  as  a  rule,  to  de- 
pend on  fertilizers  for  the  vegetable  and  grain  crops,  and 
give  the  manure  to  the  grass  crop,  ploughing  under  a  good 
sward  to  enrich  the  land  with  humus,  when  the  grass 
crop  is  as  heavy  as  a  ton  to  the  acre,  and  not  waiting  till 
you  can  span  between  the  blades. 

The  celebrated  experiments  of  Mr.  Lawes  of  Rotham- 


FERTILIZERS.  15 

sted,  Eng.,  when  he  raised  wheat  for  twenty  years  in 
succession,  depending  wholly  on  chemical  fertilizers,  the 
same  amount  each  year,  with  the  results,  that,  where  the 
first  ten  years  the  average  was  twenty-nine  bushels  per 
acre,  the  second  ten  the  average  was  forty-one  bushels 
per  acre,  ought  forever  to  settle  the  "  stimulant  and  medi- 
cine "  theory.  Professor  Atwater  says,  further,  "  That  a 
great  deal  of  successful  farm  experience  goes  to  show  that 
artificial  fertilizers  may  take  the  place  of  farm  manures, 
there  is  no  question.  The  experience  and  experimenting 
that  bear  on  this  point  are  of  too  great  accuracy,  too  long 
continuance,  and  too  large  amount,  to  be  ignored,  and  the 
results  too  decisive  to  be  derided.  Nor  is  there  in  the 
results  of  the  best  scientific  investigators  any  thing  antago- 
nistic to  the  doctrine." 

To  sum  the  matter  up,  the  arguments  for  the  use  of  fer- 
tilizers are,  (1)  As  a  rule,  they  cost  considerably  less  to 
produce  the  same  crop  results.  (2)  They  are  much  more 
cheaply  transported;  and,  containing  the  fertilizing  ele- 
ments in  so  condensed  a  form,  the  whole  handling  of  them 
is  much  cheaper.  (3)  They  enable  the  farmer  to  cultivate 
much  larger  areas.  (4)  They  enable  us  to  feed  just  the 
proportion  of  each  of  the  three  elements  the  crop  needs. 

(5)  They  ripen  crops  earlier,  and  so  practically  prolong 
the  season,  making  the  raising  of  some  varieties  possible 
when  before  their  use  they  could  not  wisely  be  risked. 

(6)  They  improve  the  quality  of  potatoes  and  grain.  (7) 
They  virtually  bring  outlying  fields  nearer  to  the  farm. 
(8)  They  have  indirectly  raised  farmers  to  a  higher  intel- 
lectual level  by  stimulating  them  to  acquire  more  infor- 
mation, and  a  clearer  insight  into  the  laws  which  govern 
plant-growth.  (9)  They  lessen  our  crop  of  weeds,  as, 
unlike  barn  manure,  they  carry  with  them  no  weed-seed 
into  the  soil. 


16  FERTILIZERS. 


POTASH. 

Potash  is  the  element  potassium  combined  with  oxygen 
— "  potassium  oxide "  it  is  called  by  the  agricultural 
chemists.  Potassium  itself  is  but  a  curiosity  of  the  labora- 
tory ;  for  it  can  be  kept  pure  only  by  excluding  all  air,  and 
is  therefore  only  to  be  found  in  the  bottle  of  the  chemist. 
The  name  "  potash  "  was  given  it  because  it  was  made  in 
iron  pots  from  ashes. 

In  Canada  and  other  primitive  countries,  in  clearing  the 
land,  the  trees  having  been  felled,  piled,  and  burnt,  the 
ashes  are  collected,  mixed  with  about  one-twentieth  of 
lime,  and  placed  in  half-barrels,  with  false  bottoms  perfo- 
rated with  holes,  and  covered  with  straw.  They  are 
drenched  with  water ;  and  in  an  hour  or  two  the  water  is 
drawn  off  into  shallow  iron  pans,  and  evaporated.  The 
crude  potash  obtained  is  purified  by  heat  on  the  floor  of  a 
furnace,  where  most  of  the  sulphur  and  water  is  driven 
off,  making  the  pearl  ash  of  commerce. 

Potash  is  a  most  caustic,  biting  alkali,  dissolving  and 
decomposing  all  organic  structures  it  comes  in  contact 
with.  It  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  bases;  in  other 
words,  it  is  a  vigorous,  unprincipled  chemical  thief,  seizing 
upon,  and  absorbing  into  itself,  the  acids  it  finds  combined 
with  various  saline  compounds.  Pure  water  could  not 
dissolve  the  potash  as  it  exists  in  the  particles  of  felspar 
and  mica  that  are  found  in  the  soil ;  but,  taking  carbonic 
acid  from  the  air,  it  has  the  power  of  dissolving  the  sili-' 
cate  of  potash,  leaving  the  quartz  and  alumina  to  form  the 
clays.  Caustic  lime  also  has  this  power.  The  silica, 
combined  with  the  potash,  preferring  the  lime,  divorces 
itself  from  the  potash,  and,  marrying  the  lime,  sets  the 
potash  free.  In  the  vegetable  kingdom  it  is  held  by 
plants,  while  in  the  process  of  growth,  in  a  soluble  state, 


FERTILIZERS.  17 

combined  with  oxalic,  tartaric,  silicic,  and  sulphuric  acids. 
When  wood  is  burnt,  these  acids  are  decomposed;  and, 
the  potash  combining  with  carbonic  acid,  we  have  the 
common  form  of  carbonate  of  potash.  Potash  is  not  only 
one  of  the  three  essentials  for  all  plant-growth,  but  it  is 
also  found  in  the  fruits,  vegetables,  and  grains.  The 
grape,  the  apple,  the  potato,  are  illustrations.  The  ashes 
of  bean  and  pea  vines,  the  potato-vine,  and  beet-leaves, 
are  especially  rich  in  potash ;  while  corn-cobs  and  aspara- 
gus stalks  yield  an  enormous  proportion,  though  but  a 
small  amount  compared  with  their  bulk.  The  principal 
sources  from  which  we  obtain  potash  are,  India,  from 
which  comes  the  nitrate  of  potash ;  Germany,  from  which 
come  the  sulphates,  muriates,  kainite,  kruget,  etc.  (all  of 
them  products  of  the  famous  Stassfurt  deposit),  wood 
ashes  (which  includes  those  from  the  brick-kiln  and  lime 
kiln),  burnt  tan,  logwood,  etc.,  and  a  limited  amount 
from  the  burnt  hulls  of  cotton-seed.  The  potash  in  all 
these  forms  comes  originally,  as  we  have  already  stated, 
from  the  Creator's  great  storehouse,  the  felspar  and  mica 
bearing  ledges,  with  the  soils  formed  from  their  disintegra- 
tion and  decomposition.  From  the  nitrate  of  potash  is 
made  the  saltpetre  of  commerce.  Being  costly,  it  is  rarely 
used  for  agricultural  purposes,  though,  to  a  limited  extent, 
a  waste  product  enters  the  market. 

The  Stassfurt  mines  of  Germany  were  originally  opened 
for  salt-mines ;  and  what  was  at  first  looked  upon  as  a 
worthless  waste,  the  wand  of  Chemistry  pointed  out  as  by 
far  the  most  valuable  product.  These  mines  make,  I  am 
informed,  the  centre  of  a  vast  basin,  many  miles  in  diam- 
eter, which  is  believed  to  have  been  the  bed  of  an  ancient 
salt  sea.  The  various  salts,  from  their  composition  and 
the  order  of  their  formation,  are  believed  by  men  of  science 
to  havie  resulted  from  the  drying-up  of  this  sea.     The  de- 


18  FERTILIZERS. 

• 

posit  appears  to  be  inexhaustible  in  its  extent.  The  gen- 
eral name  given  to  the  potash-bearing  mass  is  carnallite, 
from  the  pinkish  color  which  it  bears.  Most  of  the  prod- 
ucts marketed  are  made  from  the  original  material  of  the 
bed  by  chemical  processes,  which,  as  is  common  in  old 
countries,  are  kept  well-guarded  secrets.  It  comes  to  this 
country  in  different  grades  of  muriate,  sulphate,  and  kai- 
nite. 

The  chemists  tell  us  that  a  high  grade  of  muriate  of 
potash  contains  about  80  per  cent  of  muriate  of  potash, 
which  is  equal  to  50  per  cent  of  potassium  oxide,  or  pure 
potash.  A  high  grade  of  sulphate  contains  about  52  per 
cent  of  sulphate  of  potash,  which  is  equal  to  about  28  per 
cent  of  pure  potash,  and  30  per  cent  of  sulphate  of  mag- 
nesia, which  is  equal  to  10  per  cent  of  magnesium  oxide. 
A  high  grade  kainite  contains  about  30  per  cent  of  sul- 
phate of  potash  (equal  to  about  14^  per  cent  pure 
potash),  35  per  cent  of  chloride  of  sodium  (which  is  but 
another  name  for  common  salt),  and  10  per  cent  of  sul- 
phate of  magnesia.  It  generally  has  also  some  chloride 
of  magnesia. 

In  buying  these  fertilizers,  we  farmers  are  apt  to  think 
we  are  getting  more  potash  than  they  really  contain.  For 
instance,  80  per  cent  of  muriate  of  potash  is  apt  to  be 
taken  as  meaning  80  per  cent  of  potash,  whereas  it  means 
80  per  cent  of  potassium  combined  with  chlorine.  The 
quantity  of  potassium  in  the  80  per  cent  of  pure  muriate 
would  make  50  per  cent  of  the  weight  of  what  we  buy  in 
pure  potash :  and  so  on  of  each  of  them.  Of  wood  ashes, 
we  are  told  that  a  certain  quantity  contains  5  per  cent  of 
carbonate  of  potash.  Now,  carbonate  of  potash  is  not 
pure  potash,  but  a  combination  of  carbonic  acid  (a  com- 
pound of  carbon  and  oxygen)  and  potash ;  about  two 
parts  of  the  five  being  carbonic  acid,  leaving  but  three 


FERTILIZERS.  19 

parts  pure  potash.  The  cost  of  the  potash  in  these  combi- 
nations varies  somewhat  from  year  to  year,  but,  at  their 
lowest  figure  thus  far,  may  be  set  down  at  seven  cents  per 
pound  for  the  potash  in  the  combination  of  sulphate,  and 
three  and  three-quarters  to  four  and  one-half  in  muriate  and 
kainite.  One  reason  why  the  sulphate  bears  a  higher  price 
is,  because  it  is  sold  as  a  purer  article,  costing  more  to  pro- 
duce, being  especially  freer  from  salt  than  either  of  the, 
others. 

It  has  been  found  in  reality,  however,  that  much  of 
the  so-called  sulphate  is  really  mostly  muriate.  Both  the 
muriate  and  kainite  forms  have  salt  in  their  composition, 
which  is  considered  injurious  in  its  effect  on  some  crops, 
especially  tobacco  and  potatoes  ;  affecting  the  quality  of 
the  leaf  in  the  former,  and,  by  decreasing  the  proportion  of 
starch,  tending  to  make  potatoes  watery.  Because  of  the 
heavy  per  cent  of  salt,  I  have  found  it  dangerous  to  apply 
kainite  in  the  hill  where  small  seed,  such  as  cabbage,  are  to 
be  planted  :  it  is  better  to  apply  it  around  the  plants  just 
before  their  second  hoeing.  There  is  also  the  objection  to 
kainite,  that  it  sometimes  comes  not  purified  from  the  chlo- 
ride of  magnesia,  which  is  considered  by  agricultural 
chemists  to  be  generally  injurious  to  vegetation.  Those 
forms  of  the  salt  containing  sulphate  of  magnesia  help 
diffuse  the  potash  throughout  the  soil,  carrying  in  down ; 
and  hence  such  potash  compounds  (muriate  oftentimes, 
and  kainite  generally)  having  it  in  their  combinations  are 
especially  recommended  for  use  when  growing  deep-rooting 
crops,  such  as  clover,  beets,  etc.  This  combination  has 
also  another  valuable  characteristic,  —  its  great  power  to 
absorb  or  "  fix  "  ammonia,  and  so  preventing  its  escape, 
being  in  this  respect  far  superior  to  plaster. 

It  also  has  a  rare  and  remarkable  power  of  gathering 
nitrogen  from  the  air.     A  chemist  experimented  on  several 


20  FERTILIZERS. 

heaps  of  barn  dung  which  were  kept  for  a  year.  In  one  of 
these,  to  which  had  been  added  0.5  per  cent  of  carbonate 
of  lime,  there  was  a  loss  of  9.78  per  cent  of  the  nitrogen. 
Where  1  per  cent  of  plaster  had  been  mixed  with  a  heap, 
there  was  a  loss  of  but  0.34  per  cent ;  where  1  per  cent 
of  sulphate  of  magnesia  had  been  mixed,  the  heap  was  en- 
riched with  5.06  per  cent  of  nitrogen ;  while  1  per  cent  of 
kainite  added  7.97  per  cent,  which  must  have  come  from 
the  air.  For  such  reason  as  this,  kainite  becomes  very  val- 
uable to  sprinkle  in  stables,  or  mix  in  manure  heaps  to 
both  fix  and  absorb  ammonia.  That  word,  "  fix,"  ammonia 
will  bear  a  bit  of  defining ;  and  I  will  stop  right  here  and 
define  it,  because  it  will  be  likely  to  be  used  again  before 
we  get  through  with  our  treatise.  Ammonia  in  animal 
manure,  especially  the  liquids,  is  more  or  less  in  the  form 
of  carbonate  of  ammonia.  In  this  form  it  is  volatile,  and, 
escaping  into  the  air,  is  lost.  It  is  this  that  makes  us  sneeze 
when  working  over  manure  heaps.  When  in  the  form  of 
a  sulphate  (i.e.,  sulphate  of  ammonia),  though  it  can  be  dis- 
solved in  water,  yet  it  is  not  volatile.  Now,  sulphuric  acid 
likes  ammonia  better  than  it  likes  magnesia,  while  carbonic 
acid  likes  magnesia  better  than  it  does  ammonia :  therefore, 
when  sulphate  of  magnesia  and  carbonate  of  ammonia  are 
brought  near  each  other,  there  is  a  mutual  divorce  and  a 
remarriage  all  around ;  and,  the  new  unions  being  more 
stable  if  not  sedate,  we  have  the  non-volatile  sulphate  of 

J  ammonia  and  the  carbonate  of  magnesia. 
There  remains  yet  another  hearty  good  word  to  speak 
for  kainite.  Says  Professor  Dabney,  "  Lime  promotes  the 
action  of  kainite  to  a  very  marked  degree ;  kainite  is,  by 
itself,  frequently  a  proper  application  to  swamp-lands  and 
new  lands,  being  also  a  powerful  digestive  agent."  The 
action  of  kainite  may  be  either  a  direct  one,  supplying  pot- 
ash where  potash  is  needed,  or  an  indirect  one,  through  the 


FERTILIZERS.  21 

agency  of  the  secondary  salts  present,  such  as  common 
salt  and  sulphate  of  magnesia.  These  salts  may  promote 
the  solution  of  all  the  plant-nourishing  material  in  the  soil ; 
hence  the  favorable  action  of  kainite  upon  swamp-lands^  newly 
cleared  land^  and  all  lands  abounding  in  vegetable  matter. 
They  also  benefit  sandy  soils  by  keeping  them  more  moist. 
German  agricultural  writers  advise  to  apply  kainite  in 
fall  or  winter,  or  the  year  previous,  that  the  chlorides 
may  be  diluted  and  washed  down,  and  so  be  made  harm- 
less. They  believe  it  is  to  be  the  foundation-rock  of  all 
improvement  on  swamp-lands,  as  it  has  already  brought 
great  blessings  to  the  poor  dwellers  among  the  bogs*  and 
moors  of  North  Germany. 

While  plaster  dissolves  in  four  hundred  and  sixty  times 
its  weight  of  water,  kainite  dissolves  in  one  and  three- 
fourths  its  weight.  Some  fear  is  felt  by  our  agricultural 
chemists  that  farmers  are  using  too  much  of  these  varieties 
of  potash  having  so  large  a  per  cent  of  salt  in  their  com- 
position. There  may  be  ground  for  this  in  its  application 
to  some  crops.  Five  hundred  pounds  of  kainite  per  acre 
would  carry  with  it  less  than  three  bushels  of  salt,  which, 
repeated  for  a  series  of  years,  might  in  the  end  prove  hurt- 
ful to  some  of  our  crops :  but  much  of  this  would  pass  off 
in  the  drainage  of  the  soil ;  while  I  have,  by  mistake,  had 
as  high  as  thirty  bushels  applied  to  an  acre  of  onions  in 
one  year,  with  certainly  no  detriment  to  the  crop. 

In  his  report  for  1882,  Professor  Dabney  of  the  North 
Carolina  agricultural  experiment  station  devotes  twenty- 
two  pages  to  kainite  and  its  uses.  "  Kainite,"  he  says,  "  is 
now  an  established  specific  against  rust  in  cotton,  and  is 
undoubtedly  of  great  value,  in  connection  with  phosphate 
and  pease,  as  an  improver  of  the  soil."  It  appears  that 
about  all  brought  into  Carolina  is  in  the  crude  state,  just 
as  mined,  costing  five  dollars  per  2,240  pounds  at  Stass- 
furt,  and  having  an  average  composition  of 


22  FERTILIZERS. 

Sulphate  of  potash 23.38 

Sulphate  of  magnesia 16.76 

Chloride  of  magnesia 13.59 

Common  salt 32.11 

Moisture .     13.40  . 

Insoluble  matter 73 

There  is  as  much  sulphuric  acid  in  kainite  as  in  sul- 
phate of  lime,  which  is  but  another  name  for  plaster  or 
gypsum,  all  three  being  names  of  the  same  mineral.  In 
some  instances  kainite  has  given  better  results  on  re- 
claimed meadows  than  muriate  or  sulphate  of  potash.  On 
sandy  soil,  in  Germany,  five  hundred  to  eight  hundred 
pounds  of  kainite,  with  marl  or  lime,  produced  excellent 
crops  of  pease  for  fodder,  and  gave,  without  additional 
manure,  a  fine  after-crop  of  grain  or  potatoes.  In  the 
South  the  good  effects  of  kainite  has  been  much  more 
marked  in  dry  seasons.  Manuring  with  kainite  only  is 
not  wise ;  for  the  salts  composing  kainite  are  powerful 
digestive  agents,  and,  though  producing  good  crops  as 
long  as  the  soil  contains  any  plant-food  to  be  dissolved, 
may  utterly  fail  afterwards,  leaving  the  soil  in  far  worse 
condition  than  at  first. 

Kainite  applied  to  meadows  or  grass  appeared  to  check 
the  growth  of  the  rougher  grasses :  it  did  best  in  combina- 
tion with  superphosphates  and  ammonia.  It  is  the  general 
opinion  of  leading  agriculturists^  that  all  the  varieties  of  Ger- 
man potash  do  better  if  applied  in  the  fall ;  and  particularly 
is  this  true  of  those  having  soda  or  magnesia  in  their  com- 
position, as  do  all  varieties  of  kainite  and  most  of  the 
muriates.  Potatoes  have  done  well  when  kainite  has  been 
applied  the  fall  previous,  but  have  at  times  been  injured 
by  the  application  of  it  at  the  time  of  planting.  That  the 
mischief  done  is  mostly  or  wholly  due  to  the  presence  of 
salt  in  the  kainite,  is  shown  by  the  effect  of  any  manure 


FERTILIZERS.  23 

abounding  in  salt.  A  neighbor,  some  years  ago,  used  a 
large  quantity  of  salt-marsh  mud  on  his  potatoes.  The 
result  was  a  fine  crop  of  remarkably  smooth  potatoes : 
but  he  could  not  sell  a  second  lot  to  the  same  customer ; 
they  were  so  watery  as  to  be  utterly  useless  for  table  use. 
Kainite,  with  lime  or  superphosphate,  appears  to  be  a 
special  manure  for  pease  and  beans.  On  boggy  land,  where 
nitrogenous  manures  injured  the  crops,  kainite  was  a  suc- 
cess, surpassing  even  the  richer  potash  salts. 

WOOD  ASHES. 

Wood  ashes  are  our  great  home  source  for  potash. 
These  are  brought  into  the  market  from  several  sources, 
—  the  product  of  the  brick-kiln,  lime-kiln,  or  from  the 
woods  of  Canada  or  the  far  West.  "  Wood  ashes,"  says 
Professor  Goessmann,  "have  an  agricultural  value  much 
above  their  chemical  value."  The  principal  reason  of  this 
is,  that  they  contain,  not  only  potash,  but  all  the  elements 
of  plant-food  except  nitrogen,  and  these  in  just  the  same 
proportions  as  they  exist  in  nature,  with  the  additional 
advantage  of  having  them  in  a  very  fine  state  of  subdi- 
vision. The  n\ain  source  of  supply  for  the  Eastern  States 
has  been,  of  late  years,  those  brought  from  Canada ;  single 
firms  selling  several  hundreds  of  thousands  of  bushels 
annually.  The  wood  of  different  trees  differs,  not  only  in 
the  proportion  of  potash,  lime,  and  phosphoric  acid  in 
their  ashes,  but  also  in  the  quantity  of  their  ashes  in 
equal  quantities  by  measure  of  wood.  Professor  Johnson 
gives  the  following  analysis  of  birch,  hickory,  oak,  and 
chestnut  wood.  In  the  last  two  columns  is  the  analysis, 
by  Professor  Storer,  of  thirteen  samples  of  unleached  Can- 
ada ashes,  and  also  thirteen  samples  taken  from  household 
fires : — 


24: 


FERTILIZERS. 


Hickory. 

Birch. 

Oak. 

Chest- 
nut. 

Storer, 

13 
Samples 
House- 
hold 
Ashes. 

Storer, 

13 
Samples 
Canada 
Ashes. 

Potash 

Phosphoric  acid    .     .     . 

Magnesia 

Percentage  of  ash  in  the 
wood 

7.54 
2.19 
6.51 

2.01 

8.15 
2.30 
4.36 

2.27 

9.26 
1.92 

4.28 

1.04 

3.96 
1.69 
5.82 

0.50 

8.50 
2.04 

•  5.77 
1.17 

The  birch  was  the  common  gray  or  pasture  birch,  which, 
it  will  be  perceived,  yielded  more  ashes  than  any  of  the 
others,  —  more  than  double  that  of  the  oak ;  while,  with 
the  exception  of  the  oak,  it  was  the  richest  in  potash,  and 
in  phosphoric  acid  excelled  either  of  the  four.  It  is  sur- 
mised that  the  sample  of  chestnut  may  have  been  excep- 
tionally poor  in  potash.  I  have  been  often  told  by  those 
who  offered  me  the  Canada  ashes  for  sale,  that,  being 
made  from  primitive  wood,  it  was  richer  in  potash  than 
our  secondary  growth.  Let  that  fact  be  as  it  may,  the 
analysis  by  Professor  Storer  shows  that  the  average  of 
the  Canada  ashes  sold  in  New  England  are  worth  but 
about  five-eighths  as  much  as  the  home  product ;  that  is, 
taking  the  potash  and  phosphoric  acid  as  the  measure  of 
value,  where  the  home-made  ashes  is  worth  thirty-two 
cents  a  bushel,  the  Canada  would  be  worth  but  twenty 
cents.  Says  Professor  Johnson,  "  As  a  cord  of  hickory 
wood  weighs,  on  an  average,  about  3,500  pounds,  a  cord 
of  oak  from  2,300  to  2,400  pounds,  from  the  above  figures 
we  find  that  the  amounts  of  potash  and  phosphoric  acid 
recoverable  in  the  ashes  of  a  cord  of  oak  and  of  hickory 
are  found  to  be  as  follows :  — 


FERTILIZERS.  26 

Oak.  Hickory. 

Potash .2.3  lbs.         4.3  lbs. 

Phosphoric  Acid 5  lb.  1.3   " 

The  ashes  made  from  burning  the  wood  of  deciduous  or 
hard-wood  trees  (those  which  shed  their  leaves  in  the  fall) 
are  nearly  as  strong  again  in  potash  as  those  made  from 
trees  of  the  evergreen  class.  Peat  ashes  are  about  one- 
sixth  as  strong  as  the  ashes  of  hard-wood  trees ;  those  from 
the  burning  of  bituminous  coal,  one-twentieth  as  strong ; 
while  those  from  anthracite  are  but  one-sixtieth  as  rich. 
The  deciduous  trees  differ  considerably  among  themselves 
in  the  per  cent  of  potash  found  in  their  ashes ;  the  poplar, 
apple,  elm,  oak,  and  birch  taking  a  high  rank.  Though  the 
phosphoric  acid  in  ashes  is  in  an  insoluble  condition,  yet 
it  is  so  finely  subdivided  that  it  readily  becomes  soluble 
through  the  action  of  the  carbonic  acid  present  in  the  soil. 

Ashes  are  sold,  delivered  at  any  railroad  station,  at 
prices  varying  with  the  distance  and  the  dealer.  The 
price  per  bushel,  by  the  car-load  of  about  six  hundred 
bushels,  delivered  in  Eastern  Massachusetts,  is  from  26 
to  34  cents  for  unleached,  and  about  16  cents  for  leached. 
Several  parties  supply  the  market,  each  of  whom  has  a 
word  of  criticism  for  his  fellow-dealers:  "He  has  coal 
ashes,  more  or  less,  in  what  he  sells."  "  He  picks  his  up 
through  agents,  and  knows  not  what  he  gets."  "  He  sells 
more  or  less  leached  ashes  for  unleached."  I  have  bought 
several  car-loads  of  Messrs.  Munroe  &  Stroup  of  Oswego, 
N.Y.,  and  believe  that  they  have  generally  been  of  good 
quality.  More  or  less  of  them  are  of  a  suspiciously  light 
color  :  but  I  am  informed  that  is  the  natural  color  of  the 
ashes  from  elm-trees,  which  abound  in  lime ;  and,  as  the 
ashes  taste  very  strong  of  potash,  I  am  inclined  to  be- 
lieve it.  The  Canadians  hold,  that,  for  upland  soils,  the 
ashes  made  from  the  "  black "  oak  are  nearly  worthless. 


26  FERTILIZERS.       . 

Trees  vary  greatly  in  the  richness  of  their  ashes  in  potash, 
some  being  over  twice  as  rich  as  others.  For  this  reason, 
and  the  additional  variation  possible  through  fraud,  all 
ashes  ought  to  be  bought  and  sold  on  analysis.  It  is  true, 
a  man  may  make  a  pretty  near  guess  by  tasting  or  by 
leaching  a  sample;  but  the  test  of  a  chemist,  though  a 
fool,  can  far  surpass  the  best  guess  of  the  most  experi- 
enced man.  The  result  in  the  one  case  is  a  certainty ;  in 
the  other,  at  the  best  but  an  uncertainty.  In  dealing  with 
some  of  the  smooth-tongued  fellows  who  have  all  the  way 
to  Canada  between  you  and  their  facts,  it  is  much  easier  to 
analyze  the  ashes  than  the  man.  Ashes  have  been  sold  as 
Canada  unleached  that  proved,  on  analysis,  to  be  nothing 
more  than  oyster-shell  lime  having  a  slight  admixture  of 
wood  ashes.  Leached  ashes  contain,  on  an  average,  about 
1.40  per  cent  of  potash,  and  1.24  of  phosphoric  acid. 

Let  us  not  forget,  what  has  been  already  stated,  that 
the  potash  in  ashes  is  not  pure.  It  is  a  carbonate,  being 
about  three-fifths  pure  potash ;  that  is,  five  pounds  of  car- 
bonate of  potash  are  equal  to  three  pounds  of  pure  potash. 
As  to  the  value  of  ashes  per  bushel,  if  we  allow  8  cents 
per  pound  value  for  the  potash,  and  10  cents  for  the  phos- 
phoric acid,  then  we  have,  for  Canada  ashes,  5.77  X  8  = 
46.16  +  1.17  X  10  =  11.70,  equals  57.86  cents  for  the  pot- 
ash and  phosphoric  acid  present  in  100  pounds:  we  have 
about  58  cents  in  value.  If  to  this  we  add,  for  the  lime, 
soda,  and  magnesia,  8  cents,  we  have  66  cents  as  the  com- 
mercial value  of  100  pounds  of  unleached  Canada  ashes; 
and,  as  a  bushel  weighs  about  45  pounds,  its  value  would 
be  nearly  30  cents. 

The  peculiar  proportion  and  fine  condition  in  which  the 
several  ingredients  enter  into  ashes,  make  the  agricultural 
value  considerably  higher  than  this.  The  value  of  leached 
ashes  may  be  figured  on  the  same  basis  ;  all  the  ingredients 


FERTILIZERS.  27 

except  the  potash  remaining  about  the  same,  while  the 
percentage  of  lime  has  been  increased. 

These  facts  seem  to  explain  why  leached  ashes  are 
sometimes  as  valuable  to  the  farmers  as  unleached.  Such 
cases  simply  prove  that  it  was  not  potash  the  crop  needed 
so  much  as  the  lime  or  other  ingredients  which  exist  in 
the  leached  about  equally  as  strong  as  in  the  unleached. 
In  two  experiments,  tried  two  years  in  succession,  on  corn, 
the  leached,  value  for  value,  proved  to  be  worth  more 
than  the  unleached.  In  giving  value  for  value,  more 
magnesia,  lime,  and  soda  were  applied  with  the  leached 
than  with  the  unleached ;  and  in  these,  rather  than  pot- 
ash, the  soil  was  probably  deficient.  Or,  the  better  results 
may  have  been  caused  by  the  action  of  the  lime  and  mag- 
nesia in  their  releasing  elements  in  the  soil,  thus  making 
its  nitrogen  available  ;  or  by  their  improving  its  texture. 

Professor  Ville  says,  that  though  chloride  of  potassium, 
sulphate  of  potassa,  and  the  carbonate  are  all  three  soluble 
in  water,  and  all  three  are  absorbed  by  the  roots  of  plants, 
yet  chloride  of  potassium  is  inactive,  the  sulphate  of  po- 
tassa nearly  so,  while  the  carbonate  gives  the  best  results. 
If  this  is  so,  then  it  seems  to  follow,  that  potash  in  ashes 
is  worth  more  for  agricultural  use  than  in  the  form  in 
which  much  of  it  is  found  in  the  potash  salts  of  Germany. 

Logwood  Ashes.  —  These  are  made  from  the  wood  or 
wood  sawdust  after  the  coloring-matter  has  been  ex- 
tracted. They  contain  but  a  trace  of  potash  (.08),  with 
2.30  of  phosphoric  acid.  I  have  had  them  offered  at  ten 
cents  per  bushel.  Obviously  all  their  value  comes  from 
their  phosphoric  acid. 

Rotten  Wood.  —  As  bones  exposed  a  while  on  the  sur- 
face, part  with  their  nitrogen  to  the  greedy  soil ;  so  wood 
exposed  so  long  as  to  be  pretty,  rotten,  appears  to  part  with 
its  potash,  for  I  am  told  that  little  or  none  is  found  in  its 


28  FERTILIZERS. 

ashes.  Probably  this  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  soil 
from  chip-waste  is  so  good  a  fertilizer. 

Tan  Ash. —  This  is  a  very  light  ash,  and  is  considered 
by  soap-makers  as  very  poor  in  potash ;  the  lye  from  it 
being  "  about  equal  in  strength  to  pump-water,"  as  one  told 
me.  Nevertheless,  there  is  value  in  it,  especially  on  low 
grass-land,  probably  from  the  lime,  magnesia,  etc.,  in  its 
composition.  It  sells  for  a  low  figure,  less  than  half  the 
price  of  ordinary  ashes. 

Brick-Kiln  Ashes. —  These  always  come  mixed  more 
or  less  with  broken  brick  and  burnt  clay,  and  are  worth  no 
more  than  the  ashes  made  from  the  wood  used  in  burning 
the  brick.  The  mass  is  worth  from  five  to  seventeen  cents 
per  bushel. 

Lime-Kiln  Ashes. —  These  are  usually  a  little  wood 
ashes  mixed  with  five  or  six  times  their  weight  of  particles 
of  lime  partly  burnt.  Some  analyze  of  less  value  than  air- 
slacked  lime.  A  few  years  ago  I  examined  a  sample  from 
some  thousands  of  bushels  offered  me  at  sixteen  cents  per 
bushel :  a  common  sieve  took  out  over  half  its  weight  of 
worthless  limestone,  leaving  the  remainder  largely  made 
up  of  smaller  particles  of  the  same.  The  lot  would  have 
been  dear  at  eight  cents  per  bushel. 

Ashes  from  bushes,  bark  of  trees,  and  animals,  are  richer 
in  potash  than  those  from  the  body  wood ;  and  those  from 
cultivated  trees  are  said  to  be  richer  than  those  made  from 
trees  of  wild  growth. 

Burnt  Soil. —  Where  stumps,  bushes,  and  sods  are 
burned,  there  is  left  a  mass  of  red-colored, light, ash-like  resi- 
due. This,  farmers  usually  call  ashes.  Bear  in  mind  our 
axiom,  that,  in  manure  matters,  nothing  more  can  come  out 
than  goes  in.  The  real  ashes,  therefore,  in  such  heaps,  must 
bear  the  usual  proportion  to  the  vegetable  matter  burned. 
By  this  measure  to  guide  us,  we  must  conclude  that  but  a 


FERTILIZERS.  29 

very  insignificant  proportion  of  the  ash-looking  mass  is 
ashes  from  burnt  vegetable  matter.  And  such  is  the  fact : 
the  great  bulk  of  it  is  simple  mineral  matter  from  burnt 
soil,  colored  red  by  the  action  of  the  fire  on  the  iron  that  is 
found  in  about  all  soils,  —  the  same  mineral  that  makes  the 
white  brick  turn  red  in  burning. 

COAL  ASHES. 

Coal  ashes  contain  no  appreciable  amount  of  potash: 
the  chief  ingredient  is  silica.  They  contain  also  some 
lime  and  magnesia :  some  assert  that  there  is  as  high  as 
100  pounds  of  magnesia  to  the  cord,  with  160  pounds  of 
sulphuric  acid.  The  trace  of  potash  comes  from  the  wood 
used  in  kindling  fires,  and  the  coal  itself.  Theoretically, 
coal  ashes  should  prove  of  but  little  value  on  most  soils, 
beyond  making  heavy  soils  more  open,  and  supplying  silica 
to  land  of  a  muck-like  character ;  still,  there  is  considerable 
of  value. in  them,  when  used  in  connection  with  manure, 
on  some  crops,  especially  potatoes,  and  around  bushes  and 
fruit-trees.  Here  they  serve  as  a  mulch,  and,  like  all 
mulches,  indirectly  improve  the  soil  beneath  them.  Many 
of  the  coal  ash-heaps  in  towns  are  made  receptacles  for  the 
slaps  of  the  family,  which  turn  them  into  manure  that  will 
pay  for  carting  a  mile  or  two.  When  night-soil  is  col- 
lected, they  are  valuable  for  forming  the  bed  to  receive  it, 
acting  as  an  excellent  absorbent. 

COTTON-SEED  HULLS. 

This  is  one  of  the  sources  for  potash  confined  mostly  to 
the  South,  not  only  because  they  are  wholly  burned  there, 
but  because  the  ashes  are  oftentimes  mixed  more  or  less 
with  coal  ashes,  and  charred  and  unburnt  hulls  used  in  the 
furnaces  of  the  oil  manufactories,  where  they  are  largely 
consumed  as  fuel.     Because  of  these  impurities,  they  are 


30  FERTILIZEKS. 

rarely  found  in  the  market  for  sale.  The  ashes  analyze, 
on  an  average,  19.5  potash,  and  9.2  phosphoric  acid ;  nearly 
all  of  each  in  a  soluble  condition.  They  are  usually  sold  at 
twelve  dollars  per  ton,  while  the  potash  alone  makes  them 
worth  nearly  twice  as  much.  The  strong  potash  attracts 
moisture,  of  which  there  is  usually  15  per  cent  present. 

THE   NEED   AND   USES   OP   POTASH  IN   AGRICULTURE. 

Potash,  as  we  have  already  stated,  is  one  of  the  three 
essentials  for  plant-growth.  By  this  I  do  not  mean  to 
advise  that  it  should  always  be  applied  to  every  crop ;  for 
there  are  soils  already  so  over-rich  in  potash  and  soda,  that, 
except  the  wild  sage  and  a  few  other  shrubs,  nothing  will 
grow  on  them.  This  is  the  characteristic  of  what  was 
known  in  our  geographies  as  "the  great  American 
desert."  The  trouble  was,  it  was  over-rich  in  soda ;  but^ 
when  the  Mormons  at  Utah  diluted  these  with  water  from 
the  mountains,  the  "  desert "  disappeared,  and  in  its  place 
stands  a  fertile  land.  Some  of  the  soils  of  New  Eng- 
land, even,  will  bear  cropping  for  a  few  years  without  any 
application  of  potash  :  they  may  have  good  natural  stores 
of  it  in  plant-food  form,  or  the  potash  may  have  accumu- 
lated in  the  soil  through  years  of  heavy  manuring.  The 
natural  growth  on  any  soil  is  a  good  indication  as  to 
whether  or  not  our  farms  are  rich  in  potash.  If  they  yield 
a  thrifty  growth  of  potash-bearing  trees  or  plants,  such  as 
beech,  maple,  oak,  walnut,  or  elm  among  trees,  or  tansy  or 
purslane  among  plants,  it  is  a  fair  inference  that  it  is  nat- 
urally rich  in  potash  in  food  condition.  Soils  that  have 
been  manured  for  years  with  either  barn  manures  or  sea 
manures,  have  large  stores  of  accumulated  potash;  and, 
when  using  commercial  fertilizers  on  such  soils,  this  fact 
might  economically  be  borne  in  mind.  As  has  been  shown 
before,  about  all  soils  derived  from  granitic  rock  are  enor- 


FERTILIZERS.  31 

mously  rich  in  potash  in  a  latent  state.  Soils  formed  from 
red  sandstone  contain  potash  (usually)  enough  to  make 
the  application  to  some  crops  unnecessary. 

It  may  be  objected,  to  the  above  position,  that  the  trees 
and  plants,  having  taken  the  quantity  necessary  for  their 
structure  out  of  the  ground,  would  leave  it  poor  in  potash. 
In  reply,  I  would  say  that  the  natural  potash  supply  is 
practically  inexhaustible :  the  thrift  of  the  trees  indicates 
that  it  is  supplied  as  fast  as  plant-growth  can  take  it  up, 
which  is  another  way  of  stating  that  it  is  rich  in  available 
potash.  Clover  and  beans  are  very  sensitive  to  a  defi- 
ciency of  potash  in  the  soil ;  and  if  we  farmers  wish  to 
inquire  of  our  land  as  to  whether  it  needs  potash  in  the 
fertilizers  we  apply,  if  we  plant  either  of  these,  we  shall 
get  an  answer.  Kemp's  manure-spreader  is  an  excellent 
means  for  spreading  ashes,  though  one  would  not  be  likely 
to  think  so  on  looking  at  it ;  yet  it  is  really  as  good  for  dis- 
tributing ashes  as  it  is  manure.  When  filled  with  manure, 
it  distributes  at  the  rate  of  four  cords  to  the  acre.  Four 
cords  are  400  bushels.  Now,  then,  if  we  wish  to  spread 
any  given  quantity  of  ashes  per  acre,  we  must  fill  the  body 
just  that  proportion  full  as  the  quantity  we  desire  to  use 
on  an  acre  is  of  400.  For  instance,  if  we  wanted  to  spread 
100  bushels  to  the  acre,  then  we  must  fill  it  one-quarter 
full ;  for,  if  entirely  full,  it  would  spread  400.  And  just 
here  let  me  repeat,  that  neither  potash  nor  phosphoric  acid 
wastes  to  any  extent  in  the  soil ;  that  is,  they  always  re- 
main within  the  reach  of  the  roots  of  plants :  and  therefore 
any  surplus  left  over  from  one  crop  will  be  found  by  after- 
crops. 

If  farmers  will  get  into  the  habit  of  testing  their  soils 
(we  shall  illustrate  this  farther  on),  they  might  at  times 
omit  the  use  of  potash  on  their  crops  with  no  loss.  But  it 
would  not  be  wise  to  risk  this :  we  should  know  what  we 


32  FERTILIZERS. 

are  doing.  "  The  result  of  a  study  of  a  long  list  of  experi- 
ments," says  the  "  Connecticut  Agricultural  Report "  of 
1880,  "is  to  prove  clearly  that  in  many  instances  the 
reason  why  guano,  fish,  bone,  superphosphate,  and  other 
manures  fail  to  give  a  satisfactory  result  is,  for  want  of 
potash."  In  cases  where  fish  or  night-soil  has  been  used 
exclusively  as  fertilizers  for  a  series  of  years,  the  soil  some- 
times bakes,  and  becomes  nearly  sterile ;  the  application 
of  potash  to  such  soils  is  often  followed  by  very  strik- 
ing results.  On  land  where  potash  did  no  good  applied 
to  corn,  it  did  prove  valuable  to  potatoes  alongside  :  "  and, 
if  it  does  good  under  such  circumstances,  it  might  be 
assumed  to  do  good  to  potatoes  on  any  soil ;  and  such  is 
the  fact."  On  some  soils  the  effect  of  potash  is  very  strik- 
ing. On  the  farm  of  Mr.  Sage,  one  of  the  enterprising 
experimenters  with  chemicals,  potash  paid  him  ten  times 
its  cost  on  corn,  potatoes,  oats,  and  wheat.  A  good  deal 
more  enterprise  along  the  line  of  these  soil-tests  would 
pay  all  of  us  brother  farmers  a  heavier  per  cent  than  we 
ever  received  from  any  savings  bank.  The  effect  of  all 
forms  of  potash  is  decidedly  greater  if  applied  in  the  fall 
or  winter.  The  sulphate  and  muriate  may  be  mixed  with 
any  fertilizer,  as  they  will  not  free  the  ammonia.  Un- 
leached  ashes,  the  agricultural  chemists  tell  us,  can  be 
safely  mixed  with  guano,  flesh,  blood,  castor-pomace, 
cotton-seed  meal,  and  with  stable  manure  (if  it  is  not  in 
a  fermenting  condition),  if  in  each  instance  a  little  soil  is 
thrown  over  the  mass,  or  they  are  ploughed  under  soon  after 
mixing.  If  the  ashes  are  first  treated  with  sulphuric  acid, 
so  as  to  change  the  carbonate  of  potash  they  contain,  which 
is  volatile,  into  a  sulphate  which  is  not  volatile,  it  may 
then  be  used  like  the  German  potash  salts,  and  be  freely 
mixed  with  any  manure,  under  any  circumstances.  Guano, 
given  in  the  above  list,  I  should  take  exception  to ;  for. 


FERTILIZERS.  3iJ 

if  either  that  or  the  ashes  are  damp,  in  my  experience 
I  found  a  loss  of  ammonia  immediately  perceptible.  If 
mixed  with  a  mixture  of  fish  and  barn  manure,  it  will 
hasten  decomposition;  but  the  mass  should  be  covered 
with  soil,  to  catch  the  ammonia. 

Mr.  Lawes,  after  his  famous  experiments  in  England, 
extending  over  a  period  of  forty  years,  concludes  that  in 
his  soil,  which  is  a  strong  clay,  potash  is  found  naturally 
in  sufficient  quantity,  and  therefore  no  artificial  supply  is 
required.  In  this  country,  the  application  of  potash  usually 
has  a  good  effect  on  clay  soils ;  though,  as  potash  enters 
largely  into  their  composition,  one  would  naturally  infer 
the  contrary.  The  benefits  from  it  are  thought  to  be  due 
to  its  indirect  action  in  opening  the  soil  or  otherwise  im- 
proving its  mechanical  condition,  and  also  by  rendering 
other  plant-food  available.  In  the  valuable  experiments 
inaugurated  by  the  Connecticut  commissioner  of  agricul- 
ture, it  was  found  that  potash  helped  the  crop  most  on 
the  poorer  soils,  while  it  did  but  little  good  on  those  that 
were  rich.  Professor  Ville  recommends  potash  especially 
for  pease,  beans,  clover,  lucern,  flax,  and  potatoes.  Out  of 
twenty-six  experiments  in  corn-raising,  it  was  noted  by 
Professor  Atwater,  that  of  the  three  elements,  viz., 
nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid,  and  potash,  the  latter  did  most 
good  in  five  of  them,  proved  useful  in  six,  and  in  the 
remaining  fifteen  did  no  good.  In  the  experiments  at 
the  Agricultural  College  of  Maine,  beans  were  decidedly 
benefited  by  the  application  of  potash,  while  ruta-bagas 
were  not  helped.  It  has  been  found,  that,  when  muriate 
of  potash  and  nitrate  of  soda  are  mixed  together,  and' 
applied  as  a  fertilizer,  in  dry  seasons  they  did  more  harm 
than  good.  It  is  found  that  plants  have  the  power  of 
substituting  potash  for  soda,  but  the  reverse  does  not 
always  hold  true. 


34  FERTILIZERS. 


WHAT  IS  NITROGEN? 


The  air  mass  which  surrounds  the  earth  for  a  depth  of 
about  fifty  miles,  as  it  flashes  through  space  more  than 
twenty  times  swifter  than  a  cannon-ball  at  the  highest 
velocity,  is  made  up  of  about  four-fifths  nitrogen  and  one- 
fifth  oxygen  gas.  This  gives  unnumbered  thousands  of 
tons  of  nitrogen  always  right  at  hand,  but  never  avail- 
able ;  for  human  knowledge  has  not  as  yet  discovered  a 
way  by  which  nitrogen  can  be  economically  got  at  for 
plant-food.  We  have  to  depend,  for  our  supply,  wholly  on 
what  plants  and  animals  have  incorporated  into  their 
structure ;  using  their  waste  in  the  form  of  manure  and 
dead  remains,  either  from  land  or  sea,  for  our  source  of  sup- 
ply. The  ammonia  ted  liquor  from  the  gas-works  is  but  the 
waste  produced  from  the  remains  of  ancient  forests,  which 
we  burn  as  coal.  The  same  is  true  of  animal  life  as  of  plant 
life.  Though  over  three-fourths  of  the  air  we  breathe  is 
nitrogen,  and  it  enters  so  largely  into  the  composition  of 
our  bodies,  yet  we  have  to  obtain  it  from  the  animal 
and  vegetable  food  we  eat.  As  the  product  of  animal 
waste  in  drinking-water,  it  sometimes  causes  dangerous 
fevers.  When  nitrogen  is  combined  with  hydrogen,  — 18 
parts  of  hydrogen  to  82  parts  of  nitrogen,  —  we  have  am- 
monia, one  of  the  most  common  forms  in  which,  from  the 
waste  of  both  animals  and  plants,  nitrogen  is  fed  to  our 
crops. 

The  other  most  important  source  of  nitrogen  is  nitric 
acid.  This  is  a  combination  of  nitrogen  with  oxygen ; 
and  nitrates,  of  which  we  see  frequent  mention  in  all 
works  on  manures,  are  a  combination  of  the  nitric  acid 
with  soda,  potash,  and  other  materials,  which  are  called 
bases.  It  is, well  to  fix  in  the  mind,  that,  in  changing 
nitrogen  to  ammonia  in  any  manure  analysis,  we  must  add 


FEBTILIZERS.  35 

about  one-fifth  to  the  quantity  given.  It  appears  to  be 
the  settled  conviction  among  men  of  science,  as  the  results 
from  many  experiments,  that  plants  cannot  take  up  pure 
nitrogen  directly  from  the  air.  The  theory  is,  that  they 
are  able,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  to  get  their  supply 
through  the  water,  that  carries  it  in  some  form  in  solution 
into  the  soil,  and  also  from  the  air  indirectly,  by  the  soil 
first  separating  it  from  the  air  that  permeates  it.  Still 
another  source  of  natural  supply  for  plant-growth  is  nitro- 
gen in  a  latent  condition,  that  has  accumulated  in  the  soil, 
set  free  by  the  action  of  such  substances  as  lime  and 
plaster.  There  is  a  general  belief  among  agriculturists^ 
that  plants  have  ways  of  collecting  nitrogen  still  but  little 
known ;  while  some  extremists  have  gone  so  far  as  to  de- 
clare that  there  is  no  necessity  of  feeding  nitrogen  to  our 
crops,  for  they  can  of  themselves  collect  from  natural 
sources  all  they  require.  There  is  a  growing  belief  that 
their  power  to  supply  their  wants  from  natural  sources 
is  greater  than  has  hitherto  been  credited  to  them.  It  is 
found,  also,  that  different  kinds  of  plants  have  different 
capacities  for  taking  up  nitrogen.  Clover  is  an  example  ; 
for,  though  nitrogen  enters  largely  into  its  composition,  it 
has  such  a  capacity  to  help  itself  to  the  good  things  which 
surround  it,  that  it  needs  but  very  little  artificial  help 
from  the  manure  pile :  while  wheat,  though  it  needs  but 
little  nitrogen,  is  so  dainty  a  feeder  that  it  insists  on  a 
large  artificial  supply,  from  which  it  may  pick  out  that  little » 

WHERE  NITROGEN  OR  AMMONIA  COMES  FROM. 

The  Waste  of  the  Fisheries.  —  One  of  the  prin- 
cipal sources  from  which  manufacturers  obtain  the  am- 
monia in  their  fertilizers  is  from  the  fish  waste  or  offal 
which  they  pick  up  all  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  from 
Maine   to   Florida.     The  largest  portion  of  the  waste  is 


36  FERTILIZERS. 

from  the  fish  known  by  various  names  in  different  locali- 
ties, as  '* manhaden,"  "heart-heads,"  "moss-bunkers,"  and, 
in  the  South,  as  "fat-backs."  These  are  caught  in  nets, 
and  boiled,  to  secure  the  oil,  in  which  they  are  rich,  at 
various  establishments  along  the  shore  and  islands  of  the 
€oast.  After  boiling,  the  water  and  oil  are  pressed  out  of 
the  mass,  and  the  residue  sometimes  thrown  into  heaps, 
to  heat  and  dry ;  at  other  times  it  is  put  directly  into  bar- 
rels, and  pressed  in.  In  this  condition  it  is  known  as 
*' pomace  "  or  "  chum."  If  it  is  to  be  sold  as  fish-guano,  it 
is  spread  on  large  platforms  to  dry,  after  which  it  is  ground. 

As  a  general  rule,  three  barrels  of  fish  before  cooking 
make  one  barrel  of  the  chum.  The  fertilizer  manufac- 
turer dries  and  grinds  it,  using  it  crude,  or  treating  it  with 
acid,  to  make  the  nitrogen  and  phosphoric  acid  directly 
available  for  plant-food.  Sometimes,  when  the  catch  is  a 
large  one  (over  two  hundred  thousand  fishes  are  at  times 
taken  in  a  single  haul  of  the  net,  enough  to  load  two  or 
three  vessels  of  fifty  tons  each),  and  the  quantity  of  fish 
is  larger  than  the  oil-factories  can  take  care  of  in  hot 
weather,  the  surplus  is  sold  to  the  neighboring  farmers  at 
the  best  price  that  can  be  got.  These  fish  are  oftentimes 
put  directly  on  the  grass-land.  The  effect  is  very  stimu- 
lating, and  enormous  crops  of  grass  can  be  raised  for  a 
few  years  by  such  annual  dressings  ;  but  the  final  result, 
especially  on  light  soils,  is,  the  fish  have  less  and  less  effect, 
and  the  crop  is  almost  nothing.  The  soil  is  dying  for 
want  of  potash,  in  w^hich  element  fish-waste  is  deficient. 
To  recuperate  it,  apply  potash,  or  manures  rich  in  potash, 
and  its  fertility  will  be  restored.  Soils  abounding  in  clay 
will  stand  fish-manuring  without  showing  injury  longer 
than  those  of  a  gravelly  character. 

Besides  the  manhaden,  there  are  numerous  other  fisli- 
wastes,  all  rich  in  nitrogen  and  phosphate.     On  two  occa- 


FERTILIZERS.  37 

sions  I  have  purchased  cargoes  of  spoiled  herring ;  in  one 
instance,  nine  hundred  barrels,  at  the  rate  of  fifty  or  sixty 
cents  a  barrel,  which,  as  a  barrel  weighs  about  two  hun- 
dred pounds,  would  be  about  five  dollars  per  ton.  In  some 
instances  the  fish  are  preserved  in  salt,  which  adds  one- 
quarter  or  more  to  the  weight :  in  others  they  are  fresh, 
with  the  oil  in  them,  which  does  not  add  to  their  value  as 
manure,  for  oil  is  nearly  pure  carbon,  which  is  of  no  value 
for  that  purpose  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  hinders,  somewhat, 
their  decomposition.  Occasionally,  during  the  fall  fishing 
on  the  fishing-banks  near  the  coast,  a  supjDly  of  pollock 
will  accumulate  more  than  the  market  can  take,  when 
they  can  be  purchased  at  a  price  that  will  make  cheap 
manure.  A  few  years  ago,  to  help  sustain  the  market,  1 
left  a  standing  offer  with  our  fisherman  that  I  would  pay 
twenty-five  cents  a  hundred  pounds  for  pollock:  the 
result  was  twenty  thousand  pounds  of  fine  large  fish, 
weighing  from  eight  to  fifteen  pounds,  just  out  of  the 
water,  hauled  to  my  manure  heaps.  A  few  years  ago  vast 
quantities  of  waste  were  made  in  the  heads,  sound-bones, 
and  entrails  which  accumulate  at  fishing-ports.  These 
were  for  years  dropped  into  the  ocean  as  refuse.  So 
immense  was  the  waste,  that  at  the  Isle  of  Shoals,  off 
the  New-Hampshire  shore,  the  harbors  actually  became  so 
nearly  closed  to  navigation  that  the  inhabitants  on  two 
occasions  had  to  dredge  them  out.  I  am  told,  that,  be- 
neath some  of  the  long  wharves  of  Gloucester,  the  great 
fishing-town  of  the  United  States,  there  has  accumu- 
lated an  almost  immeasurable  quantity  of  this  bone  refuse. 
When,  a  few  years  ago,  the  heads,  sound-bones,  and  en- 
trails became  a  market  article,  I  used  to  buy  it  at  five  or 
six  dollars  a  cord  on  board  the  cars :  a  cord  weighs  from 
three  and  a  half  to  four  tons.  It  was  exceedingly  cheap 
manure,  but  a  very  disagreeable  one  to  handle,  the  smell 


38  FERTILIZERS. 

being  any  thing  but  ottar  of  roses,  while  it  took  a  vast 
quantity  of  soil  to  compost  it.  After  remaining  some 
months,  oftentimes  the  heads  would  not  be  fully  decayed, 
making  the  mass  extremely  disagreeable  to  handle ;  while 
there  could  be  only  a  rough  guess  made  as  to  how  much 
of  it  would  become  plant-food  the  same  season  it  was 
applied.  Of  late  years  the  fish  are  for  the  most  part 
cleaned  before  the  vessels  reach  port,  and  the  waste 
thrown  overboard.  At  places  along  the  coast  where  bay- 
fishing  is  carried  on  on  a  large  scale,  there  can  be  some- 
times found  a  liver  or  blubber  "  chum ; "  it  being  the  refuse 
after  oil  is  extracted  from  fish-liver.  If  a  year -old,  it 
loses  moisture  and  consequently  weight,  and  is  therefore 
richer.  This  liver  chum  is  a  pasty,  sticky  substance,  gen- 
erally sold  at  a  figure  considerably  below  its  value  by 
analysis.  I  have  bought  it  as  low  as  $4.50  per  ton  the 
present  season  (1885) ;  and  it  is  rarely  higher  than  $12, 
though,  by  analysis,  it  is  worth  118.83  per  ton.  I  would 
advise  cutting  liver  refuse  with  sharp  sand,  to  make  it 
fairly  fine. 

Halibut  "  chum  "  is  the  refuse  from  the  heads  of  hali- 
but, which  are  cooked  under  high  pressure,  to  extract 
the  oil  that  exists  in  the  bones.  The  result  is,  to  leave  the 
bones  in  such  a  state  that  they  can  easily  be  crumbled. 
Naturally,  this  is  especially  rich  in  phosphoric  acid.  It 
analyzes  worth  $19.99  per  ton,  and  is  sold  at  from  $6 
to  $10.  This  chum  is  usually  engaged  beforehand  by 
dealers  in  fertilizers ;  but  a  wide-awake  man,  by  looking 
around,  can  generally  pick  up  a- supply.  The  waste  of 
herring  and  mackerel  at  the  fishing-towns  is  sometimes 
made  up  into  "  chum,"  being  first  boiled,  to  secure  what- 
ever oil  they  contain.  These  usually  contain  more  or  less 
of  salt,  having  sometimes  as  high  as  twenty  per  cent, 
which  makes  them  about  as  salt  as  kainite  ;  and,  like  the 


FERTILIZERS.  39 

potash-bearing  mineral,  they  therefore  need  to  be  used 
with  some  care,  lest  the  proportion  of  salt  present  injure 
the  roots  of  growing  plants. 

There  is  another  waste  of  the  fisheries  which  has  come 
into  the  market  of  late  years :  I  refer  to  the  skins,  bones, 
and  fins  of  salted  fish.  These  come  from  the  fish  that 
are  stripped,  and  sold,  boxed,  free  of  bones.  It  is  a  heavy 
article,  and  the  strips  come  a  little  tangled.  Fertilizer 
manufacturers  usually  monopolize  this;  though  it  can 
sometimes  be  picked  up  at  Gloucester,  Mass.,  at  from 
$3.75  to  115  per  ton. 

Dog-fish,  which  is  another  name  for  a  small  species  of  shark, 
in  the  summer  season  swarm  along  the  New-England  coast, 
on  the  inner  fishing-banks,  driving  away  most  other  varie- 
ties. They  weigh  from  three  to  five  pounds.  They  are 
very  easily  caught,  and,  their  muscles  being  very  firm,  are 
rich  as  manure.  The  great  trouble  in  manipulating  these 
has  been  because,  the  flesh  being  of  a  sticky  and  oily  na- 
ture, acid  will  not  readily  act  on  it.  Still,  they  are  used 
very  largely,  as  a  source  for  ammonia,  by  one  large  fertil- 
izer manufacturer  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  who  composts 
them  with  horse  manure,  and,  I  infer,  lets  his  compost 
heaps  remain  two  years  before  using,  when  the  objection 
disappears.  Being  so  abundant  along  the  coast,  and  so 
cheap,  being  sold,  wholesale,  at  $1  a  hundred  fish,  they 
are  well  worthy  the  attention  of  farmers  who  live  along 
the  shore ;  for,  though  it  might  be  necessary  to  keep  them 
over  a  year,  the  investment  would  pay  an  interest  of  some 
hundred  per  cent.  The  fishermen  in  many  localities  would 
catch  them  if  there  was  a  market  for  them.  The  oil  from 
the  livers  averages  about  a  cent  each  fish ;  and,  with  one 
cent  from  the  livers  and  another  for  the  fish  itself,  quite  a 
fair  business  can  be  done  during  the  hot  months. 

Waste  salt  that  has  been  once  used  on  fish  contains  in 


40  FERTILIZERS. 

it  some  fish-waste,  such  as  blood,  and  particles  of  the  flesh 
and  scales  of  the  fish  ;  for  this  reason,  it  has  some  value 
as  manure,  in  addition  to  its  action  on  crops  as  salt.  The 
fish-scales  analyze  in  the  vicinity  of  sixteen  per  cent  in 
ammonia,  and  forty  cents  in  phosphate  of  lime :  they  de- 
compose more .  slowly  than  the  flesh  of  the  fish.  Fish- 
manure,  having  the  same  origin  as  Peruvian  guano,  has  the 
same  constituents,  but  not  in  the  same  proportion  ;  for 
ages  of  decay  have  reduced  the  guano  greatly  in  bulk,  and 
in  the  same  proportion  have  concentrated  it.  All  forms 
of  "  chum  "  have  a  large  proportion  of  water  in  their  com- 
position. The  fish-heads  and  back-bones  have  as  high 
as  66  per  cent:  the  chum  pressed  by  a  hand  press  has 
about  50  per  cent,  and  that  from  a  hydraulic  press  about 
40  per  cent.  The  average  of  the  whole  fish,  as  taken 
from  the  water,  is  about  80  per  cent.  The  fish-guano 
made  from  dried  fish-waste,  contains,  on  an  average,  7.8 
per  cent  of  nitrogen.  In  making  fish-guano,  the  waste  is 
dried  in  the  sun  or  by  waste  steam,  and,  when  sufficiently 
dry,  is  ground,  and  sold  at  about  $33  per  ton. 

The  shells  of  lobsters,  of  which  vast  quantities  accumu- 
late at  canning-factories,  are  ground  up,  and  sold  as  plant- 
food.  They  are  a  complete  manure,  and  especially  rich  in 
nitrogen :  analyzing,  nitrogen,  6.2;  potash,  0.2  ;  phosphoric 
acid,  2.3. 

HOW  TO  HANDLE  FISH-WASTE,  AND  THE  BEST  WAY  TO 
FEED  IT  TO  THE  CROPS. 

All  fish-waste  used  in  a  crude  state,  as  might  be  inferred 
from  its  composition,  is  very  stimulating,  and,  being  pur- 
chased at  a  low  figure,  is  oftentimes  used  by  farmers  with 
a  very  liberal  hand.  As  a  consequence,  their  crops  are 
sometimes  "  burned  up,"  as  the  phrase  is.  They  are  apt 
to  infer,  that,  if  they  cannot  see  the  presence  of  the  fish  i:^ 


FERTILIZERS.  41 

any  part  of  the  soil  of  the  compost  heaps  as  they  pitch  it 
over,  such  soil  can  have  no  richness.  Now,  one  of  the 
wonderful  properties  of  dry  soil  is  the  avidity  with  which 
it  takes  ammonia  to  itself;  and  it  may  always  be  safely 
inferred,  that,  in  a  well-mixed  compost  heap  of  fish-waste, 
the  ammonia  has  diffused  itself  through  every  portion  of 
it ;  and,  all  portions  being  assumed  to  be  rich  plant-food,  it 
should  be  used  accordingly.  Owing  to  the  great  richness 
of  manure  made  from  fish  in  bulk,  it  is  wiser,  even  after 
composting  it,  to  use  it  broadcast,  rather  than  in  the  hill. 
Fish  "chum, "  or  "pomace,"  may  be  used  either  broadcast 
and  harrowed  in,  or  by  first  composting  with  poor  manure, 
to  enrich  the  same.  If,  after  being  broken  up  fine,  it  is 
put  in  thin  layers  with  the  manure,  it  will  help  the  devel- 
opment of  heat,  which  will  tend  to  fine  it  up,  so  that  it  will 
combine  with  the  mass  when  it  is  pitched  over.  A  third 
way  is,  to  compost  it  with  soil,  waste  turf,  muck,  or  saw- 
dust. In  either  way  it  is  composted,  it  is  always  good 
farming  to  take  careful  notes  of  how  many  barrels  go  into 
the  heap,  that  from  that  we  may  know  how  much  of  pot- 
ash, ammonia,  and  phosphoric  acid  we  are  applying  to  any 
given  crop,  and  govern  ourselves  accordingly.  There  are 
two  mistakes  made  in  applying  too  heavily  to  one  to 
applying  too  sparingly. 

It  is  surprising  how  penetrating  is  the  ammonia  from 
fish-compost.  For  this  reason,  in  making  a  heap,  the  bot- 
tom layer  of  soil  should  be  a  foot  or  more  in  thickness.  I 
have  seen  cases,  where  the  fish  was  mixed  liberally,  where 
the  soil  was  full  of  ammonia  for  several  feet  below  the 
surface.  In  making  the  compost  heap,  after  spreading 
the  bottom  layer,  which  should  be  thicker  when  whole  fish 
or  the  coarser  waste  is  used,  cover  this  with  sufficient  waste 
to  just  hide  the  soil ;  then  cover  with  sod  or  soil  about  six 
times  the  depth  of  the  fish ;  and  thus  proceed,  scattering 


42  FERTILIZERS. 

raw  ground  plaster  over  each  layer  of  fish  before  covering 
vrith  soil,  at  the  rate  of  fifty  pounds  of  plaster  to  three 
hundred  weight  of  fish.  After  the  pile  has  been  built  up 
four  or  five  feet  in  height,  surround  the  entire  heap  (it 
should  be  on  level  ground)  with  a  little  embankment  of 
fine  soil.  This  will  catch  the  liquid  that  often  runs  from 
it  when  the  fish  begins  ,to  decompose,  as  well  as  catch  what 
may  be  soaked  from  it  by  heavy  rain^ ;  while  it  will  also 
be  handy  to  fill  up  the  holes  that  are  apt  to  show  them- 
selves in  the  top  as  the  decomposition  progresses,  letting 
out  bad  odors  unless  they  are  promptly  closed.  As  the 
presence  of  oil  or  salt  tends  to  check  decomposition,  fish- 
waste  containing  much  of  either  of  these  had  better  be 
composted  with  stable  manure  rather  than  soil,  as  the  heat 
from  the  manure  will  start  decomposition.  If  decomposi- 
tion is  slow  to  start,  unleached  ashes  or  lime  and  plaster 
may  be  mixed  with  the  mass ;  but  be  sure  to  cover  such 
heaps  with  soil.  The  compost  heaps,  when  manure  is  not 
used,  should  be  made,  if  possible,  before  warm  weather 
closes;  and,  should  no  heat  be  found  by  driving  a  bar 
down,  and  testing  it,  after  it  has  lain  a  couple  of  weeks, 
then  pitch  it  over,  to  let  the  air  in,  and  cover  the  outside 
lightly  with  soil.  Where  chum  is  used,  after  having  been 
made  fine,  it  can  be  applied  directly  to  the  surface  of  till- 
age land  in  the  fall,  and  harrowed  in,  or  be  ploughed 
lightly  under,  to  be  thrown  up  near  the  surface  by  a 
deeper  ploughing  in  the  spring.  If  left  on  the  surface,  I 
find  it  is  spreading  a  table  all  winter  long  for  the  crows 
of  the  country. 

By  applying  the  chum  in  the  fall,  it  will  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  rain  and  frost  to  help  subdivide  and  dissolve  it. 
Fish-skins,  when  used  on  tillage  land,  had  better  first  be 
composted.  If  to  be  used  on  sward-land  for  grass,  spread 
thin  in  the  fall  or  very  early  spring. 


FERTILIZERS.  43 


HOW  MUCH  FISH- WASTE  SHOULD  BE  USED  TO  THE  ACRE  ? 

To  determine  this,  we  must  consider  two  points.  First, 
what  proportion  of  it  will  make  digestible  plant-food  the 
iirst  season?  and  secondly,  what  and  how  much  of  the 
phosphoric  acid  and  ammonia  found  in  them  do  the  crops 
we  propose  to  raise  require  ?  I  think  we  can  assume,  as  a 
general  truth,  that  about  all  the  ammonia  becomes  plant- 
food  the  same  season  it  is  applied,  while  not  much  over 
one-half  of  the  phosphoric  acid  can  be  safely  counted  on. 
If  we  use  fish-waste  on  the  same  land  the  second  year, 
we  may  assume  that  all  the  phosphoric  acid  is  available ; 
for  by  that'  time  the  half  left  over  from  last  season  will 
have  decomposed. 

However,  as  this  form  of  plant-food  affords  phosphoric 
acid  and  nitrogen  in  a  very  cheap  form,  and  as  there  is 
usually  some  loss  from  the  amount  assigned  to  each  acre, 
by  the  depredation  from  dogs,  and  more  especially  from 
crows,  before  it  is  ploughed  or  harrowed  under,  I  would 
advise,  what  I  myself  practise,  rather  a  liberal  application 
of  the  fertilizer,  whether  it  be  in  the  form  of  chum  or  of 
fish-skins.  On  good  soil  a  fine  crop  of  cabbage  may  be 
raised,  by  first  ploughing  under  a  hundred  bushels  of  un- 
leached  ashes  to  the  acre,  and,  after  having  first  run  fur- 
rows at  the  distance  apart  decided  on  for  the  rows  of 
cabbage,  scattering  over  the  surface  two  tons  of  fish-chum 
that  has  been  made  fine  and  mixed  with  soil.  Harrow  the 
land,  when  naturally  the  furrows  will  get  an  extra  share  of 
the  fish,  which  will  be  a  cheap  way  of  manuring  in  the 
hill.  The  seed  either  may  be  drilled  in,  or  planted  as 
usual. 


44  FEKTILIZEKS. 


OTHER  SOURCES  FOR  NITROGEN. 

Peruvian  Guano,  Sulphate  of  Ammonia,  Nitrate  of  Potash,  Nitrate  of  Soda, 
Castor-Pomace,  Azotin,  Ammonite,  Tankage,  Dried  Blood,  Cotton-Seed 
Waste,  Hoof  and  Horn  Shavings,  and  Leather-  Waste. 

(An  analysis  of  the  above  will  be  found  in  the  table  on  pp.  Ill,  112.) 

As  this  treatise  is  to  be  for  the  most  part  confined  ta 
those  sources  of  crop-food,  which,  by  way  of  contrast  with 
barnyard  and  the  more  common  class  of  manures,  are 
called  "fertilizers,"  I  will  not  go  into  details  relative  to 
several  of  the  sources  from  which  nitrogen  may  be  obtained^ 
as  this  would  make  my  treatise  too  extensive.  If  the  public 
should  appear  to  desire  a  more  extended  work,  containing 
other  manure  resources,  I  may  write  it  at  a  future  day. 

At  the  head  of  fertilizers,  as  distinguished  from  barn 
manure,  stands  guano.  This  may  be  defined  as  rotten 
sea-bird  dung,  with  the  remains  of  birds  mixed  with  it.  It 
is  found  on  thousands  of  islands,  but  only  on  a  few  of  these 
in  large  quantities.  Being  manure  of  birds  that  feed  on 
fish,  it  would  always  contain  the  same  manure  elements 
as  fish,  but  that  the  rain  dissolves  and  washes  out  the 
ammonia,  leaving  but  the  phosphate  behind.  Near  Peru^ 
however,  there  are  a  few  islands  lying  in  a  region' where 
no  rain  falls ;  as  what  would  otherwise  be  the  rain-bearing 
wind  for  the  region  loses  all  its  moisture  by  the  time  it 
passes  over  the  high,  dry  tops  of  the  lofty  Andes  Moun- 
tains. These  islands  yield  a  guano  rich  in  ammonia. 
There  are  several  kinds  of  guano  in  the  market,  known  as 
Rectified,  Guaranteed,  Standard,  Lobos,  Navassa,  Carib- 
bean^ etc.  The  first  three  named  are  varieties  of  the 
Peruvian  (sometimes  also  called  Chincha,  or  Guanape,  to 
designate  the  localities  from  which  they  were  obtained),  all 
rich  in  ammonia,  —  Standard  containing  nine  to  ten  per 
cent,  Lobos  five  to  five  and  one-half,  and  Guaranteed  six  to 


FERTILIZERS.  45 

seven.  Each  is  rich  in  phosphoric  acid,  nearly  all  soluble, 
and  has  from  two  to  three  per  cent  of  potash.  The  Navassa 
and  Caribbean-sea  guanos  are  rich  in  insoluble  phosphoric 
acid,  but  are  entirely  wanting  in  nitrogen  or  potash.  I 
have  usually  purchased  my  guano  of  Seth  Chapman's  Son 
&  Co.,  No.  170  Front  Street,  New- York  City,  who  are  the 
sub-agents  of  the  Peruvian  Government  for  the  North- 
Eastern  States.  Their  published  analysis  gives  to  the 
Standard  nine  to  ten  per  cent  ammonia,  twelve  per  cent 
phosphoric  acid,  and  three  per  cent  potash. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  nitrogen  in  the  guano  has  a  value 
over  that  contained  in  manure,  into  which  enters  fish 
blood  or  meat  as  a  supply  of  ammonia,  and  hence  called 
"organic  nitrogen,"  inasmuch  as  in  the  guano  it  is  in  a 
form  ready  to  be  taken  up  by  plants,  while  the  fish  blood 
and  meat  must  first  enter  into  a  state  of  putrefaction, 
when  some  of  the  nitrogen  is  set  free  in  a  pure  state, 
and,  being,  in  that  condition,  inert  as  plant-food,  is  partly 
lost  to  the  plant.  This  loss  has  been  estimated  to  be  from 
one-sixth  to  one-third  the  total  amount  of  nitrogen  con- 
tained in  the  substance.  Be  the  reason  what  it  may,  no 
one  fertilizer  has  given  such  universal  satisfaction  as 
guano.  It,  indeed,  is  the  standard  by  which  we  almost 
instinctively  measure  the  value  of  all  other  fertilizers.  .  It 
having  been  asserted  that  about  all  the  guano  sold  of 
recent  years  was  an  artificial  product,  made  from  fish  as  a 
base,  with  enough  of  real  guano  added  to  give  the  guano 
color  to  the  fertilizer,  I  wrote  about  the  matter  to  Seth 
Chapman's  Son  &  Co.,  who  are  the  agents  for  the  sale  of 
his  fertilizer."   In  justice  to  them,  I  publish  their  reply :  — 

New  York,  Feb.  5,  1885. 
Mr.  J.  J.  H.  Gregory,  Marblehead,  Mass. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Yours  of  the  4th  inst.  is  received.  We  have  heard  more  or 
less  about  adulteration  of  Peruvian  guano  ever  since  Messrs.  Hurcado  & 
Co.  commenced  making  it  of  uniform  quality  by  mixing  cargoes  of  differ- 


46  FERTILIZERS. 

ent  analyses,  some  nine  years  ago  ,'  but  we  have  never  been  able  to  learn 
that  any  thing  was  added  to  it  other  than  sulphate  of  ammonia.  This, 
which  is  the  same  form  of  ammonia  found  in  Peruvian  guano,  is  used  to 
bring  up  the  percentage  to  the  standard  when  the  guano  is  deficient.  We 
can  supply  the  crude  guano  in  sealed  bags,  as  imported,  and  furnish  a  copy 
of  analysis,  which  is  not  guaranteed  ;  nor  is  any  allowance  made  for  stones. 
Price,  same  as  Standard,  $63  for  2,240  pounds;  and  analyses  said  to  be  the 

same. 

Yours  respectfully, 

SETH  CHAPMAN'S  SON  &  CO. 

From  this  we  learn  that  it  is  still  possible  to  obtain 
guano  in  the  original,  unbroken  packages,  directly  from 
the  guano  islands,  though  it  will  be  more  or  less  lumpy, 
and  there  may  be  some  stones  among  it.  Messrs.  Chap- 
man &  Co.  quote,  Feb.  6,  1885,  guano  in  original  bags  per 
ton  of  2,240  pounds,  $63;  Standard,  $63;  Lobos,  $48. 
This  price  is  at  their  store,  for  which  cartage  to  the  cars 
is  $1.25  per  ton.  After  paying  freight,  I  have  found 
the  price  to  be  several  dollars  per  ton  cheaper  than  the 
same  quality  of  guano  is  sold  at  nearer  home.  Farmers, 
in  buying,  should  remember  the  difference  in  quality  be- 
tween Lobos  and  the  Standard,  and  should  see  that  the 
price  corresponds.  I  am  told  of  an  instance  in  Central 
Massachusetts,  where  last  season  a  party  mixed  a  little 
guano  with  salt-cake,  as  the  residue  of  the  manufacture 
of  sulphuric  acid  is  called,  and  sold  five  hundred  tons  of 
the  stuff  as  a  fertilizer.  He  was  prosecuted,  but,  being  a 
lawyer  himself,  found  some  loophole  in  the  law,  through 
which  he   crawled. 

It  is  proper  to  state  just  here,  that  the  fertilizers  in  the 
market  into  whose  name  the  word  "  guano  "  enters,  how- 
ever good  they  may  be,  have  not  now,  as  far  as  I  can 
learn,  a  particle  of  Peruvian  guano  in  their  composition. 
I  must  also  add,  that  dealers  in  fertilizers  assert  that  the 
amount  of  real  Peruvian  guano  imported  is  but  trivial 
compared  with  the  quantity  sold  under  that  name,  and 


FERTILIZERS.  47 

that  some  of  that  imported  into  this  country  from  England 
has  been  found  to  be  grossly  adulterated.  All  that  we 
farmers  can  do  is,  to  buy  it  under  a  warrant  that  it  contains 
given  quantities  of  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid,  and  potash. 
Mr.  Chapman  says  in  his  letter,  that,  in  bringing  the  nitro- 
gen up  to  that  required  for  Standard,  sulphate  of  am- 
monia was  used.  Assuming  this  to  be  so,  and  that  it  is 
not  obtained  from  any  organic  source,  then  it  would  be  of 
the  same  value  as  though  obtained  from  the  guano  itself. 
From  tests  I  made  on  grass-land,  I  found  that  the  Peru- 
vian guano  I  purchased  of  Messrs.  Chapman  &  Co.  started 
the  grass  earlier  than  did  an  equal  value  of  sulphate  of 
ammonia  applied  at  the  same  time,  side  by  side,  on  an 
equal  area.  This  satisfied  me  that  its  nitrogen  was  not 
derived  wholly,  if  at  all,  from  waste  fish  or  meat. 

Ten  years  ago  the  New  York  Agricultural  Society  took 
up  the  matter  of  the  adulteration  of  Peruvian  guano, 
purchased  eleven  bags  of  as  many  dealers,  and  had  them 
analyzed.  The  result  was  a  value  differing  from  $38.33  to 
f  107.68,  though  each  was  sold  at  the  same  price  per  ton. 
In  the  report  of  the  Connecticut  agricultural  station  for 
1881,  it  is  stated,  that,  while  Peruvian  guano  used  formerly 
to  contain  no  more  than  one  or  two  per  cent  each  of  soda, 
sulphuric  acid,  and  chlorine,  the  sample  analyzed  that 
year  contained  about  thirteen  per  cent  of  sulphate  of  soda 
(salt-cake),  and  eleven  per  cent  of  common  salt. 

The  Chincha  Islands,  which  have  been  the  great  source, 
in  past  years,  of  Peruvian  guano,  lie  near  the  coast  of 
Peru,  barren  granite  rocks,  with  great  depth  of  water 
close  by  them,  so  that  in  places  the  largest  vessels  can 
lay  alongside  and  be  loaded  from  the  land  by  a  shoot 
entering  into  their  holds.  The  guano,  a  thoroughly  rotted 
mass  of  bird-dung,  in  which  are  mixed  feathers,  carcasses, 
and   eggs,  was   from   four   to   a   hundred  feet   in  depth. 


48  FERTILIZERS. 

Old  salts  tell  me  that  they  brought  up  the  same  material 
from  deep  bottom  on  the  flukes  of  their  anchors.  Had 
they  said  it  looked  the  same,  I  should  have  believed  them. 
From  twelve  to  fifteen  million  tons  have  been  taken  from 
the  Chincha  Islands  alone.  Bat  guano  is  sometimes  ex- 
tensively found  in  large  caves  in  various  parts  of  the 
world,  but  it  varies  greatly  in  quality. 

In  applying  guano,  the  Standard,  which  is  especially  rich 
in  ammonia,  should  be  applied  to  those  crops  which  are 
especially  ammonia-loving ;  while  the  Lobos  should  be 
used  on  those  which  need  phosphoric  acid  more  than 
they  do  ammonia.  The  potash  required  beyond  what  the 
guano  contains  may  be  added  from  muriate  or  sulphate 
of  potash.  The  quantity  to  be  used  will  vary  with  the 
condition  of  the  soil  in  natural  strength  and  richness  by 
manuring  in  past  years,  the  range  being  from  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  eight  hundred  pounds  per  acre.  The 
manner  of  applying  will  depend  somewhat  on  the  crops 
to  be  raised ;  but  a  good  general  rule  is,  to  apply  a  part 
before  the  crop  is  planted,  and  make  one  or  two  applica- 
tions at  different  stages  of  its  growth.  If  scattered  broad- 
cast, it  should  be  harrowed  in  at  once,  to  prevent  the 
escape  of  ammonia.  That  used  in  drills,  I  find  it  easy  to 
mix  thoroughly  with  the  soil  by  dragging  through  the 
furrow  the  top  of  a  stocky  red  cedar,  to  which  a  stone 
weighing  eight  or  ten  pounds  has  been  firmly  tied ;  or,  a 
brush-broom  similarl}^  weighted  answers  very  well.  When 
used  in  the  hill,  the  farmers  who  employ  help  will  need 
to  look  sharply  after  them ;  for  I  find  but  very  few  farm- 
hands take  the  care  necessary  to  so  thoroughly  incorporate 
it  in  the  soil  as  to  prevent  the  destroying  of  the  young 
plants.  In  all  our  handling  of  this  powerful  manure,  we 
must  bear  in  mind  the  danger  of  bringing  it  in  contact 
with  the  young  roots  of  the  sprouting  seed.     I  recall,  that, 


FERTILIZERS.  49 

a  dozen  years  ago,  a  foreman,  who  assured  me  he  knew  all 
about  the  handlmg  of  guano,  planted  for  me  a  couple  of 
acres  of  cabbage.  A  few  days  after  they  had  broken 
ground,  I  noticed  the  very  dark  color  of  the  leaves,  and, 
mistrusting  the  cause,  ran  my  fingers  under  the  plants,  and 
brought  up  the  pure  guano.  All  that  piece  was  replanted. 
To  insure,  as  near  as  possible,  a  thorough  admixture 
with  the  soil  in  hill-planting,  I  have  a  rule  for  each  man,  — 
after  the  guano  has  been  scattered  over  an  are^  as  large  as 
a  dinner-plate,  after  covering  it  shallow,  tc  draw  his  six- 
tined  fork  three  times  through  it  one  way,  three  times 
through  it  the  opposite  way,  and  then,  holding  his  fork  per- 
pendicularly in  the  middle,  give  it  a  twist  around.  Some 
advocate  mixing  it  with  two  or  three  times  its  bulk  of  earth 
before  applying  it.  While  this  insures  a  thorough  mix- 
ture with  the  soil,  it  adds  considerable  work  to  the  labor 
of  distribution  ;  and,  since  the  plan  of  dragging  the  cedar- 
boughs  in  the  drill  has  worked  well,  I  have  adopted  that 
as  a  saving  of  time.  However,  whenever  there  is  any  thing 
of  a  breeze  blowing,  it  is  wise  to  adopt  some  such  plan; 
otherwise  your  neighbors'  fields  will  be  apt  Jbo  share  the 
manure  with  you.  Let  me  here  say,  that  I  have  found  it 
an  excellent  plan,  when  distributing  fertilizers,  to  take  the 
earlier  part  of  the  day ;  for  I  find  that,  as  a  rule,  the  calmest 
portion.  It  is  a  good  plan,  in  handling  almost  any  fertilizer, 
except  guano, — a  little  damp  soil  will  answer  for  this, — 
to  have  plenty  of  water  at  hand,  and  pour  a  half-bucket 
now  and  then  into  the  barrel  you  are  spreading  from; 
then  stir  it  with  a  hoe  until,  while  dry  enough  to  spread 
freely,  it  is  too  damp  to  blow  away.  If  applying  to  the  sur- 
face, always  do  it,  if  possible,  just  before  a  rain.  I  some- 
times use  it  on  onions,  to  hurry  up  the  bottoming  of  the 
crops,  —  about  two  hundred  pounds  to  the  acre.  Having 
scattered  it  with  the   hand,  immediately  follow  with  a 


50  FERTILIZERS. 

slide-hoe,  to  work  as  much  of  it  as  possible  into  the  soil, 
and  so  save  loss  of  ammonia.  This  is  an  excellent  fer- 
tilizer to  use,  in  connection  with  barnyard  manure,  in  the 
early  season,  to  give  the  crops  a  start. 

Market  gardeners  in  the  vicinity  of  our  large  cities 
have  but  very  little  respect  for  phosphate  and  special  fer- 
tilizers, but,  using  from  ten  to  twelve  cords  of  stable 
manure  to  the  acre,  think  highly  of  guano  at  the  rate  of 
a  thousand  pounds,  or  bone  at  the  rate  of  two  thousand 
pounds,  per  acre  as  an  adjunct ;  or,  when  stable  manure 
alone  is  to  be  depended  on,  from  twenty  to  thirty  cords.^ 
Now,  it  is  the  nitrates  that  start  the  plants  of  the  mar- 
ket gardener,  and,  as  far  as  the  guano  goes,  for  this  end 
it  is  a  wise  use  of  it;  but  to  develop  nitrates  in  stable 
manure  requires  a  degree  of  heat  that  the  soil  does  not 
receive  before  the  season  is  somewhat  advanced.  With- 
out knowing  it,  gardeners  are  using  this  vast  amount  of 
barn  manure  to  get  a  small  stock  of  plant-food,  which 
they  have  already  at  hand  in  the  fertilizer  market,  ready- 
made,  in  the  form  of  guano  and  nitrate  of  soda.  A  wise 
head  has  suggested  that  they  dispense  with  three-quarters 
of  the  heavy  manuring,  and  use  one-half  of  the  value  of 
this  in  investing  in  nitrate  of  soda,  and  put  the  balance 
in  their  pockets  as  so  much  money  saved. 

In  closing  the  subject  of  nitrogen,  I  cannot  do  better 
than  quote  the  able  remarks  of  Professor  Goessmann  : 
"  The  air  contains  at  all  times  carbonic  acid,  and  in  most 
instances  also  nitric  and  nitrous  acid  and  ammonia.  The 
soil  absorbs,  continually,  more  or  less  of  the  former,  and 
receives  the  nitrogen  compounds  in  rain  and  snow.  Once 
absorbed  by  the  soil,  they  find  access  to  the  plant  by  the 
roots,  as  carbonates  and  nitrates,  where  they  assist  in  the 

1  Assuming  the  stable  manure  costs  him  $7  a  cord,  he  saves  from  $70  U 
$120  by  using  a  thousand  pounds  of  guano. 


FERTILIZERS.  61 

formation  of  the  organic  portion  of  the  plant.  Besides 
this  direct  support  of  plant-growth,  they  serve,  also,  the 
very  important  purpose  of  increasing  the  supply  of  inor- 
ganic plant-food ;  for  they  aid  in  the  disintegration  of  the 
soil." 

Sulphate  of  ammonia,  a  by-product  of  works  where  coal 
is  used  for  the  manufacture  of  gas,  is  one  of  the  princi- 
pal sources  for  nitrogen.  It  looks  like  rather  coarse  salt, 
and  is  marketed  from  barrels  up  to  huge  tierces  weigh- 
ing from  a  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  pounds.  It  is 
readily  soluble  in  water,  but  does  not  waste  in  the  air. 
Nitrate  of  potash  (saltpetre)  is  usually  too  dear  a  source 
for  nitrogen  to  make  it  available.  Nitrate  of  soda  is 
found  in  the  interior  of  Chili,  on  the  surface  and  in  the 
soil.  It  is  a  remarkably  stimulating  fertilizer,  and,  if  there 
is  much  rain,  will  waste  before  plants  can  take  it  up.  Mr. 
Lawes  advises  to  apply  it  only  when  not  more  than  three 
feet  in  depth  of  the  soil  will  be  moistened.  From  one 
hundred  to  two  hundred  pounds  per  acre  is  excellent  to 
give  grass  a  start  in  the  spring :  it  should  not  be  applied 
before  the  leaf  has  made  a  growth  of  three  or  four  inches. 
In  dry  seasons  it  is  better  and  cheaper  than  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  as  the  latter  needs  a  degree  of  moisture  to  make 
plant-food.  Still,  on  the  whole,  the  sulphate  of  ammonia 
is  considered  the  better  investment:  for,  (1)  it  is  not 
likely  to  be  lost  in  the  atmosphere ;  (2)  it  is  not  too  solu- 
ble ;  (3)  it  has  the  power  of  clinging  to  the  ingredients 
of  the  soil,  clay  will  hold  it  persistently,  and  even  pure 
sand,  when  washed  with  water,  will  retain  a  large  portion 
of  it ;  (4)  its  ammonia  is  easily  changed  into  nitric  acid 
by  ingredients  in  the  soil.  Nitrate  of  soda,  we  are  told, 
"is  very  liable  to  be  adulterated  with  white  sand  or 
broken  quartz,  and  with  salt  or  the  cheap  potash  salts. 
.  .  .  The  purchaser  should  see  that  it  dissolves  entirely  in 
water,  and  does  not  taste  distinctly  of  salt." 


52  FERTILIZERS. 

I  sometimes  use  sulphate  of  ammonia  to  hurry  along 
crops  of  onions  that  are  rather  backward  ;  spreading  two 
hundred  pounds  per  acre  just  before  they  begin  to  bottom, 
and  working  it  into  the  soil  with  a  slide-hoe. 

Castor-Pomace  is  a  waste  from  the  West,  being  the 
cake  left  after  the  oil  has  been  pressed  from  the  castor- 
beans.  In  using  it,  care  should  be  taken  to  keep  it  where 
animals  cannot  get  at  it.  The  men  who  spread  it  ought  to 
walk  with  the  wind ;  for,  though  not  poisonous,  it  is  a  very 
disagreeable  customer  for  either  the  eyes  or  mouth.  It 
is  a  favorite  manure  for  tobacco.  I  have  used  car-loads  of 
it  in  former  years  on  general  crops,  with  good  results. 

AzoTiN,  Ammonite,  Tankage.  —  The  first  two  of  these 
are  animal  wastes,  which  have  been  exposed  to  the  vapor 
of  naphtha  to  extract  the  grease.  (Of  late  years  glue- 
waste,  of  which,  in  its  crude  state,  for  years  I  used  from 
one  to  two  hundred  cords  annually,  is  also  so  treated.) 
The  residue  is  dry  and  brittle,  and  rich  in  ammonia,  and 
every  way  superior  for  fertilizing  purposes  to  the  same 
substances  before  treatment.  These  are  not  usually  found 
in  the  retail  market,  but  are  purchased  by  manufacturers  of 
fertilizers  at  prices  based  on  their  per  cent  of  nitrogen  and 
phosphoric  acid,  as  shown  by  analysis  in  each  lot  offered 
for  sale.  Job  lots  of  from  five  to  ten  tons  can  sometimes 
be  purchased  of  brokers,  or  from  great  slaughtering  estab- 
lishments like  that  of  Armour  &  Co.  of  Chicago.  Tankage 
is  a  waste  product  from  the  intestines  and  other  parts : 
it  contains  more  or  less  of  bone,  easily  crumbled,  and  is 
not  uniform  in  fineness. 

Dried  Blood  is  the  blood  of  the  slaughter-house  with 
most  of  the  moisture  dried  from  it,  leaving  it  in  good  me- 
chanical condition  for  handling.  It  is  very  rich  in  nitro- 
gen, and  is  largely  used  by  manufacturers  of  fertilizers. 
There  are  two  grades,  the    light    and  the  dark  colored; 


FERTILIZERS.  5^ 

the  latter  being  kiln-dried.  Sometimes,  when  the  heat  i» 
too  great,  it  is  partially  burned,  to  the  destruction  of  a 
portion  of  the  ammonia.  The  nitrogen  in  blood  acts  very 
readily  as  plant  fooc^ . 

Cotton-Seed  Meal  had  better  be  first  fed,  as  the  ma- 
nure from  it  is  almost  as  rich  in  fertilizing  materials  as 
was  the  meal  before  feeding ;  for,  as  we  have  stated  else- 
where, full-grown  animals  take  but  a  small  per  cent  of  the 
potash,  phosphoric  acid,  or  nitrogen  that  exists  in  their 
food,  while  butter  takes  none.  Occasionally  spoilt  cotton- 
seed meal  can  be  found  in  the  market  that  is  nearly  as. 
good  for  manure  as  the  best  of  meal,  and,  being  generally 
valued  at  about  three-fifths  as  much,  is  a  very  cheap  source 
for  nitrogen  and  phosphoric  acid.  When  spoilt  by  trans- 
portation by  salt-water,  it  is  generally  in  very  hard  lumps,, 
which  have  to  be  ground  in  a  mill.  One  high  recom- 
mendation that  castor-pomace  and  cotton-seed  meal  have,, 
is,  that  their  manure  elements  are  in  condition  for  imme- 
diate use  as  plant-food. 

Hoof  and  Horn  Shavings  and  Leather.  —  All  of 
these  are  very  rich  in  nitrogen,  but  it  is  not  readily  avail- 
able, and  therefore  has  a  low  value  as  a  market  article. 
Hoof  and  horn  shavings  analyze  as  high  as  11.81  nitrogen  j 
and,  if  first  steamed  and  then  ground,  the  nitrogen  they 
contain  becomes  to  a  degree  available.  When  used  to 
adulterate  superphosphate,  as  they  very  rarely  are,  being^ 
ground  up,  the  particles  can  be  readily  detected  by  the 
microscope.  Horn-waste  is  mostly  in  thin,  bulky  shavings, 
which  are  marketed  in  huge  bags.  Several  years  ago  I 
purchased  a  ton,  to  test  its  availability  and  value,  not  hav- 
ing any  idea  of  the  peculiar  mechanical  condition  of  the 
article.  Standing  at  my  door  one  morning,  I  saw  a  team 
coming  down  the  street  with  a  bulk  of  bags  piled  as- 
high  as  a  large  load  of  hay.     While  wondering  what  new 


54  FEKTILIZERS. 

product  had  come  to  town,  the  driver  stopped,  when 
abreast  the  house,  and  told  me  he  had  a  ton  of  horn- 
waste  bearing  my  address.  I  got  rid  of  the  elephant  the 
easiest  way  possible,  by  tumbling  it  into  the  manure  cellar, 
and  throwing  the  daily  manure  upon  it  until  it  disap- 
peared from  view.  My  men  found  combs,  more  or  less 
perfect,  among  the  mass,  enough  to  supply  their  families 
for  a  year  or  more.  This  stuff  is  very  rich  in  ammonia ; 
but,  though  by  layering  it  with  horse  manure  it  might  be 
softened  and  dissolved  by  fermentation,  yet  it  is  so  bulky 
that  even  at  a  low  figure  few  farmers  would  care  to  invest 
in  it. 

PHOSPHORIC  ACID. 

This,  the  third  substance  in  the  three  components  of  a 
complete  fertilizer,  is  composed  of  the  element  phosphorus 
combined  with  the  gas  oxygen.  The  four  great  resources 
for  phosphoric  acid  are  the  mineral  called  apatite,  which 
contains  ninety-two  per  cent  of  phosphate  of  lime,  and  is 
believed  by  some  scientists  to  be  the  original  source  in 
nature  from  which  phosphate  of  lime  is  derived;  the 
phosphatic  guanos,  which  are  the  dung  of  sea-fowls  from 
which  the  ammonia  has  been  washed  out  by  the  rain;  the 
bones  of  all  animals;  and  the  mineral  phosphate  rocks, 
which  are  the  remains  of  ancient  marine  animals.  Min- 
eral phosphates  have  within  a  few  years  been  discovered 
to  exist,  in  almost  limitless  extent,  in  North  and  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  usually  accompanying  beds  of  marl, 
cither  just  above  or  just  below  them,  and  covering  hun- 
dreds of  square  miles:  They  exist  largely  as  nodules  of 
rock,  having  holes  or  depressions  on  their  surface  filled  with 
worthless  material,  which  makes  it  necessary  to  wash  them 
before  grinding.  That  they  are  marine  remains  is  evident 
to  the  eye  from  their  composition,  which  includes  marine 
shells  and  numberless  sharks'  teeth,  some  being  in  a  per- 


FERTILIZERS.  55 

feet  state  of  preservation.  Single  teeth  are  sometimes 
found  as  large  as  a  man's  hand,  weighing  over  two  pounds. 
These  nodules  were  carted  out  of  fields  as  waste,  just  like 
any  other  rock,  until  the  querying  chemist  touched  them 
with  his  wand.  The  rocks  are  ground,  and  the  finer  por- 
tions of  them,  called  "floats,"  sometimes  applied  directly 
to  the  soil ;  and  when  that  is  rich  in  organic  matter,  or 
when  vegetable  matter  can  be  added  by  ploughing  under 
green  crops,  it  has  been  found  to  do  quite  well  without 
having  been  treated  with  acid.  Says  Professor  Dabney  of 
the  North-Carolina  experimental  station,  "  On  sandy  soils, 
or  soils  destitute  of  vegetable  matter,  it  appears  to  have 
no  effect  whatever ;  and,  when  tested  by  ammonium  citrate, 
but  an  insignificant  portion  of  the  finest  ground,  called 
*  floats,'  was  found  to  be  soluble."  Composting  in  fer- 
menting manure  is  recommended,  to  ascertain  whether  it 
cannot  be  dissolved  in  sufficient  quantity  to  economically 
improve  the  manure.  On  some  of  the  lands  in  Scotland 
it  has  been  used  with  success  as  a  paying  investment  with- 
out having  been  first  treated  with  acid. 

These  mineral  phosphates  are  the  great  source  for 
phosphoric  acid ;  for,  at  the  rate  commercial  fertilizers 
are  now  used,  bones  could  not  begin  to  supply  the  de- 
mand. The  soluble  phosphoric  acid,  whether  made  from 
bones,  apatite,  phosphatic  guanos,  or  the  mineral  phos- 
phates of  the  Carolinas,  have  been  found  by  careful  tests 
to  be  all  of  equal  value  as  plant-food;  though  the  pub- 
lic, for  old  acquaintance'  sake,  naturally  prefer  that  made 
from  bones.  Some  manufacturers  of  fertilizers,  from  hav- 
ing superior  facilities  for  collecting  them,  and  knowing 
the  prejudice  of  the  public,  get  the  phosphoric  acid  that 
they  use  in  their  fertilizers  wholly  from  bones.  This  much 
may  be  said  in  their  favor,  that,  should  any  of  the  bone 
remain  undissolved  when  treated  with  the  acid,  it  would 


56  FERTILIZERS. 

still  have  a  value  of  from  four  to  six  cents  per  pound, 
while  in  the  finest  ground  Carolina  rock  it  would  be  worth 
but  two  cents  and  a  half.  The  phosphate  of  lime,  as  it 
exists  in  bones  and  the  mineral  rock,  is  made  up  of  three 
atoms  of  lime  to  one  atom  of  phosphoric  acid.  In  this 
condition  it  is  insoluble  in  water,  though  in  bones  slowly 
soluble  in  the  soil;  but  if  two  of  the  parts  could  be  got 
rid  of,  then  the  remainder,  made  up  of  one  part  lime  com- 
bined with  phosphoric  acid,  v/ould  be  soluble  in  water.  This 
is  accomplished  by  mixing  sulphuric  acid  and  water  with 
finely  ground  bone,  or  burnt  bone,  or  finely  ground  min- 
eral rock,  when  the  two  atoms  of  lime  leave  their  home  in 
the  bone  or  the  mineral,  and,  combining  with  the  sulphuric 
acid,  become  sulphate  of  lime  or  plaster,  leaving  the  phos- 
phoric acid  combined  with  but  one  atom  of  lime  soluble 
in  water.  After  having  been  thus  formed,  under  certain 
conditions  it  sometimes  takes  to  itself  another  atom  of 
lime,  and  becomes  what  is  called  '  reverted,'  or,  in  other 
words,  has  turned  back  again  to  an  insoluble  form.  But 
this  two-part  lime  combination  is  readily  decomposed  and 
rendered  soluble  when  acted  on  by  the  carbonic  acid  pres- 
ent in  the  soil,  and  when  so  acted  on,  being  in  the  fine 
mechanical  condition  that  the  action  of  the  acid  produced, 
readily  dissolves  in  water,  and  becomes  plant-food.  There 
are  a  few  terms  used,  in  speaking  of  phosphate  of  lime  in 
different  forms,  that  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  become 
familiar  with.  The  insoluble  combination  of  three  parts 
lime  is  often  called  bone-earth  phosphate.  When  the 
two  parts  of  lime  have  been  removed,  and  the  phosphoric 
acid  has  become  soluble,  it  is  often  called  acid  phosphate, 
but  generally  superphosphate  of  lime,  the  prefix  '  super  * 
being  used  to  indicate  that  the  lime  has  a  proportion  of 
phosphoric  acid  greater  than  is  natural  to  it.  The  term 
*  soluble  bone  phosphate '  is  criticised  by  Bruckner  as  a 


FERTILIZERS.  57 

misnomer ;  for  there  cannot  be  such  a  thing  as  '  soluble 
bone  phosphate,  for  bone  phosphate  is  always  in  an  insolu- 
ble condition,  and,  when  it  is  made  soluble,  it  is  no  longer 
a  bone  phosphate."  The  term  "•  available  "  phosphoric 
acid  is  sometimes  used.  This  includes  both  the  soluble 
and  the  reverted,  as  the  latter  soon  becomes  soluble  in  the 
soil. 

BONES,  AND  WHERE  THEY  COME  FROM. 

The  bones  of  land  animals  are  composed  of  the  follow- 
ing ingredients ;  — 

Gelatine,  fat,  and  water  .         .         .         .         .48 

Phosphate  of  lime,  with  a  little  magnesia       .         .         .46 

Carbonate  of  lime '       .         .04 

Potash  and  soda    .  . 02 

100 

The  gelatine  contains  from  three  to  five  per  cent  of 
nitrogen,  and  the  phosphate  of  lime  (or  bone  phosphate) 
from  eighteen  to  twenty-three  per  cent  of  phosphoric  acid. 

Bones  are  brought  to  the  fertilizer  market  as  the  waste 
of  the  slaughter-houses  or  butcher-shops,  from  the  plains 
of  South  America  or  the  prairies  of  the  West,  or  a& 
"  char,"  or  burnt  bone,  that  has  been  used  principally  as 
a  purifier  in  the  process  of  manufacturing  sugar.  This 
latter  is  sometimes  counterfeited  by  mixing  lampblack 
with  mineral  phosphates.  Where  they  have  been  exposed 
to  the  action  of  the  elements,  bones  are  found  to  have  lost 
more  or  less  of  their  gelatine,  and  hence  are  not  so  rich 
in  nitrogen.  The  ways  of  preparing  bone  for  plant-food 
are  numerous:  by  one  class  of  processes  the  gelatine  is 
saved,  and  by  the  other  lost.  By  burning  bones  either  in 
closed  vessels  —  which  produces  the  bone-black,  or  "  char  " 
—  or  in  open  fires,  all  the  animal  matter,  which  includes 
the  gelatine  and  oil,  is  consumed,  and  we  have  only  phos- 


58  FERTILIZERS. 

phate  of  lime  remaining.  To  make  the  phosphoric  acid 
in  this  fully  soluble,  we  must  treat  it  to  sulphuric  acid  ; 
though  the  results  from  burning  the  bones  are,  to  reduce 
the  particles  to  so  fine  a  state  as  to  make  them  more  or 
less  available  without  the  use  of  acid. 

MAKING  OUR  OWN  SUPERPHOSPHATE. 

Dr.  Nichols,  in  his  clear,  practical "  Barn-Floor  Lecture," 
gives,  in  substance,  the  following  plan  :  Take  a  plank  box 
four  feet  square  and  one  foot  deep.  This  may  be  simply 
water-tight ;  but,  if  so,  there  must  be  no  nails  that  the  acid 
can  reach,  for  it  will  eat  them  out  and  so  make  a  leak :  or 
it  may  be  lined  with  lead,  as  the  doctor  directs ;  all  solder- 
ing to  be  done  with  lead  solder.  The  box  will  be  large 
enough  to  take  a  carboy  of  sulphuric  acid,  with  the  neces- 
sary quantity  of  phosphate  material  and  water  to  make 
about  a  quarter  of  a  ton  of  superphosphate.  If  we  take 
finely  ground  bone,  the  result,  following  the  doctor's  plan, 
will  be  a  pasty  mass,  needing  mixing  with  muck,  or 
other  dry  material,  to  get  it  in  good  mechanical  condition 
for  use.  If,  instead  of  bone,  we  use  bone-black,  as  he  ad- 
vises, we  shall  have,  as  a  result,  a  dry  mass  easily  handled. 
"  To  make  our  superphosphate,"  says  Dr.  Nichols,  "  a  car- 
boy of  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  of  sulphuric  acid  or 
oil  of  vitriol  (sixty-six  degrees  strength),  three  hundred  and 
eighty  pounds  of  bone-black,  and  ten  gallons  of  water, 
are  needed.  Having  first  donned  old  clothes,  and  having 
at  hand  a  little  saleratus  or  some  alkali,  ready  to  rub  on 
any  spot,  should,  by  chance,  a  drop  of  the  acid  spatter  on 
our  clothes  or  boots  (for  where  it  touches,  if  not  immedi- 
ately neutralized,  it  will  char  like  fire),  be  sure  to  first 
pour  in  the  water,  and  then  the  acid ;  next^  slowly  add  the 
bone,  stirring  it  all  the  while  with  an  old  hoe  of  but  little 
value.     There  will  be  a  great  commotion,  —  a  great  boil- 


FERTILIZERS.  69 

ing  and  frothing  and  foaming  and  thro  wing-off  of  heat 
with  a  suffocating  vapor,  which  will  make  you  think  for  a 
moment  that  you  have  drawn  your  last  breath.  But  have 
courage :  there  have  been  a  few  millions  of  tons  made  be- 
fore your  day,  and  the  men  who  made  them  yet  survive. 
Because  of  the  suffocating  vapor,  it  is  well  to  do  the  work 
in  the  open  air  or  in  an  open  shed. 

In  the  report  of  the  Connecticut  experimental  station 
(1881),  Professor  Johnson  gives  two  methods.  That  pro- 
posed by  Dr.  Alexander  Miiller,  Professor  Johnson  thinks 
the  one  best  adapted  for  domestic  use  of  any  of  the  pro- 
cesses involving  the  use  of  oil  of  vitriol :  "  Take  one  hun- 
dred pounds  of  ground  bone,  such  as  contains  twenty 
to  fifty  per  cent,  more  or  less,  of  material  coarser  than 
would  pass  through  a  sieve  having  a  one-half  inch  mesh, 
twenty-five  pounds  of  oil  of  vitriol,  and  six  quarts  of 
water.  Separate  the  bone  by  sifting  into  two,  or,  if  the 
proportion  of  coarse  bone  is  large,  into  three,  parts ;  using 
sieves  of  one-sixteenth  and  one-eighth  inch  mesh."  Mix 
the  coarser  part  of  the  bone,  in  a  cast-iron  or  lead-lined 
vessel,  with  the  oil  of  vitriol.  When  the  bone  is  thor- 
oughly wet  with  the  strong  acid,  add  the  water,  stirring 
and  mixing  well.  The  addition  of  the  water  to  the  acid 
develops  a  large  amount  of  heat,  which  favors  the  action. 
Let  stand,  with  occasional  stirring,  for  twenty-four  hours, 
or  until  the  coarser  fragments  of  bone  are  quite  soft ; 
then,  if  three  grades  of  bone  are  used,  work  in  the  next 
coarser  bone,  and  let  stand  another  day  or  two,  until  the 
acid  has  softened  all  the  coarse  bone,  or  has  spent  its 
action ;  finally,  dry  off  the  mass  by  mixing  well  with  the 
finest  bone.  In  carrying  out  this  process,  the  quantity  of 
oil  of  vitriol  can  be  varied  somewhat,  —  increased  a  few 
pounds  if  the  bone  has  a  large  proportion  of  coarse  frag- 
ments, or  diminished  if  it  is  fine." 


60  FERTILIZERS. 

Professor  Stockhardt,  the  celebrated  Saxon  agricultural 
chemist,  gives  the  following  process :  "  From  a  mixture 
of  sifted  wood  or  coal  ashes  and  earth  thrown  upon  a 
barn  or  shed  floor,  form  a  circular  wall  so  as  to  enclose 
a  pit  capable  of  containing  one  hundred  weight  of  ground 
bone ;  then  make  the  surrounding  wall  of  ashes  so  firm 
as  not  to  yield  by  being  trodden  on ;  sift  off  the  finer 
part  of  the  bone,  and  set  it  aside ;  throw  the  coarser  part 
into  the  cavity,  and  sprinkle  it,  during  continued  stirring, 
with  three  quarts  of  water,  until  the  whole  is  uniformly 
moistened ;  add  gradually  eleven  pounds  of  oil  of  vitriol 
of  sixty-six  degrees,  the  agitation  with  the  shovel  being 
continued.  A  brisk  effervescence  of  the  mass  will  ensue, 
which  will  not,  however,  rise  above  the  margin  of  the  pit 
if  the  acid  is  poured  on  in  separate  small  quantities.  After 
twenty-four  hours,  sprinkle  again  with  three  quarts  of 
water,  add  the  same  quantity  of  sulphuric  acid  as  before, 
with  the  same  brisk  shovelling  of  the  mass,  and  leave  the 
substances  to  act  for  another  twenty-four  hours  upon  each 
other.  Then  intermix  the  fine  bone  previously  sifted  off, 
and  finally  shovel  the  ashes  and  the  earth  of  the  pit  into 
the  decomposed  bone,  until  they  are  all  uniformly  mixed 
together." 

It  will  be  noted,  that  the  two  last  processes  use  half 
or  less  than  half  the  usual  quantity  of  acid  allowed  for  a 
hundred  pounds  of  bone.  This  is  economy ;  for  though, 
by  using  more  acid,  we  add  to  the  weight  of  the  mass, 
still,  all  that  is  used  over  and  above  what  is  necessary  to 
make  soluble  the  phosphoric  acid  in  the  bone,  merely 
increases  the  quantity  of  plaster  present,  at  a  cost  of  about 
$28  per  ton  for  the  same,  which  is  four  times  the  mar- 
ket price.  From  the  small  quantity  of  acid  used,  I  infer 
that  it  is  assumed  that  the  finest  grade  of  bone  is  available 
for  plant-food,  with  but  little  help  from  the  sulphuric  acid. 


FERTILIZERS.  61 

By  Dr.  Nichols's  method,  our  available  phosphoric  acid 
from  bone-black  will  have  cost  us  about  as  follows :  — 

380  pounds  bone-black,  at  $22.50  per  ton,  or  IJ  cents  per  pound,    $4  27 
170      "       oil  of  vitriol,  at  If  cents  per  pound        .        .        .     2  38 
80      "        water. 

630 
63  one-tenth  deducted  for  waste,  steam,  and  evaporation. 

567  pounds,  costing $6  65 

Cost  per  ton  for  home-made  phosphoric   acid,  where  bone- 
black,  or  "char,"  is  used   .         .         .         .        ..        .        .23  40 

Price  in  the  market  per  ton 30  00 

Cost  of  available  phosphoric  acid  per  pound,  the  average  being 

17  per  cent  nearly 0  07 

Now,  let  us  see  what  it  would  cost  to  make  soluble  the 
phosphoric  acid,  or,  in  other  words,  to  make  a  superphos- 
phate, when  100  pounds  of  bones  are  used. 

52  pounds  sulphuric  acid,  at  ly%  cents      .         .        .    ^  92 
100      "        fine  bone,  at  If  cents        .        .        .        .      1  75 
25       "        water. 

177 

17  loss  in  steam,  gas,  and  waste. 

160  pounds,  costing    .         .         .         .         .        .        .    $2  67 

The  superphosphate  in  a  ton  of  bones  would  weigh 
160  X  20  =  3,200  pounds ;  and  the  cost,  at  the  same  rate, 
would  be,  12.67  X  20  =  $53.40,  which  would  be,  for  a 
ton  by  weight,  $33.37.  The  average  price  at  which  it  is 
sold  in  the  market  is  $38.  Difference  in  cost  between  the 
home-made  and  purchased  is  $4.63. 

To  determine  the  profits  of  this  operation,  we  must 
deduct  from  the  $4.63  the  extra  freight  of  the  acid  and 


62  FERTILIZERS. 

bone  over  the  freight  on  a  purchased  ton  of  the  super- 
phosphate, and  a  certain  fraction  of  per  cent  to  be  allowed 
on  the  breakage  of  carboys,  which  will  occasionally  occur 
in  transportation ;  and  the  remainder,  plus  the  advantage 
of  knowing  that  we  have  the  real  article,  will  be  the  re- 
turn for  our  labor.  Let  us  next  see  what  the  home-made 
phosphoric  acid  will  cost  us  when  the  mineral  phosphate 
is  used. 

The  phosphate  rocks  of  South  Carolina  supply  us  with 
our  cheapest  source  for  soluble  phosphoric  acid.  These 
are  richer  in  phosphate  of  lime  than  the  deposits  of  North 
Carolina,  and  require  half  more  sulphuric  acid  to  make 
their  phosphoric  acid  soluble.  The  cost  of  soluble  phos- 
phoric acid  at  the  present  market  price  for  material,  viz., 
•$13  per  ton  for  finely  ground  phosphate  rock,  and  $28  per 
ton  for  oil  of  vitriol,  sixty-six  degrees,  is  as  follows :  — 

1,000  pounds  phosphate $6  50 

600,     "        sulphuric  acid        .        .        .        .        .8  40 
300       "        water. 

1,900      "        total. 

90  deducting  10  per  cent  for  loss  in  gas  and  vapor. 

1,810  pounds,  costing |14  90 

At  13  per  cent,  the  soluble  acid  would  be  235  pounds^ 
costing  $14.90,  or  about  6^  cents  per  pound. 

The  phosphoric  acid  in  finely  ground  bone  can  also  be 
made  available  by  the  caustic  action  of  the  potash  in  un- 
leachedwood  ashes.  Dr.  Nichols  recommends  the  following 
method :  "  Take  1  barrel  raw  bone  flour,  3  barrels  dry  un- 
leached  wood  ashes,  90  pounds  gypsum,  and  10  gallons  of 
water ;  make  a  heap  of  the  solid  materials  on  the  barn  floor, 
and  add  the  water,  stirring  constantly  with  a  hoe.  The  re- 
sult is  perfect  plant-food,  containing  all  the  elements  plants 


FERTILIZERS.  63 

require  in  about  the  same  proportions."  Steamed  bones, 
burnt  bones,  bone-black,  or  char,  cannot  take  the  place  of 
the  raw  ground  bone ;  neither  can  any  form  of  the  German 
potash  salts  take  the  place  of  the  ashes :  for  animal  matter 
is  needed  in  the  bone,  and  potash  in  a  caustic  form  in 
the  ashes,  to  produce  the  chemical  action.  Says  Dr. 
Nichols,  "Five  barrels  of  this  mixture  to  the  acre  is  a 
cheap  and  mo»t  effective  dressing  for  any  kind  of  a  crop." 
The  material  used  would  cost,  in  Massachusetts,  about 
$7.50.  I  would  advise  using  the  mixture  in  the  hill,  with 
about  half  the  usual  quantity  of  barn  manure  ploughed  or 
harrowed  in.  In  my  own  practice  I  incline  more  and 
more  to  keep  the  manure  near  the  surface,  that  it  may 
have  the  advantage  of  all  rains,  to  moisten  and  help  dis- 
solve the  plant-food  in  it,  for  plants  can  take  their  food 
only  when  in  a  liquid  or  gaseous  state.  With  this  end  in 
view,  I  surface  manure  for  most  crops,  and  work  slightly 
under  with  the  wheel  or  some  other  good  harrow.  Mr. 
Darling  advises  a  little  different  method  and  proportions : 
"  Mix  5  barrels  finely  ground  bone  with  5  barrels  of  un- 
leached  hard-wood  ashes ;  add  water  sufficient  to  moisten 
the  mass,  and  then  cover  with  loam.  Leave  the  heap  three 
weeks,  adding  a  little  water  if  it,  on  examination,  appears 
to  be  nearly  dry."  Mr.  Darling,  who  is  well  acquainted 
with  fertilizers,  and  might  be  presumed  to  know  of  what 
he  is  speaking,  says  that  the  mass  will  be  worth  fifty  dol- 
lars per  ton,  which  is  at  least  double  the  cost  of  the  mate- 
rials that  entered  into  the  composition  of  the  heap. 

When  bones  are  steamed  under  pressure,  to  extract 
from  them  oil  and  gelatine,  they  are  left  in  such  a  state 
that  when  ground,  I  have  found,  on  using  a  lot  of  a  dozen 
tons  that  had  stood  in  heaps  some  months  after  having 
been  steamed,  apparently  as  good  effect  on  crops  as  though 
they  had  been  treated  with  acid.     I  found,  that,  when  used 


64  FERTILIZERS. 

in  hills  where  cabbage-seed  had  been  planted,  they  soon 
softened  into  a  soap-like  mass.  If  the  gelatine  is  taken 
from  them,  with  it  they  lose  all  the  nitrogen ;  and  there- 
fore their  value  as  a  fertilizer  is  to  be  measured  solely 
by  the  phosphoric  acid  which  they  contain,  and  this,  I 
think,  would  be  classed  with  the  form  known  as  "in- 
verted." Oil  or  grease  in  any  form  is  not  plant-food, 
hence  the  loss  of  this  is  no  loss  to  the  farmer.  As  has 
been  stated,  bones  exposed  to  the  weather  lose  more  or 
less  of  their  nitrogen,  and  therefore  are  not  so  valuable 
for  fertilizing  purposes.  Professor  Johnson  states  that 
bone  char  is  a  little  more  certain  as  a  fertilizer  than  finely 
ground  phosphate  rock  when  the  latter  is  applied  to  the 
soil  in  its  crude  state,  but  it  needs  treating  with  oil  of 
vitriol  to  get  from  it  the  best  results. 

REDUCTION  OF  UNGROUND  BONE. 

Professor  Johnson,  in  the  report  of  the  Connecticut  ex- 
periment station  for  1881,  gives  several  methods  for  the 
reduction  of  unground  bones,  from  which  I  make  the  fol- 
lowing extract:  "If  whole  bones  are  treated  with  acid, 
suitably  diluted,  it  acts  energetically  on  the  bones  at  first, 
and  readily  disintegrates  them  to  a  certain  depth :  unless, 
however,  a  large  excess  of  acid  be  used,  the  action  soon 
becomes  sluggish,  because,  where  the  acid  is  in  contact  with 
the  bone,  it  forms  sulphate  of  lime.  Fresh  acid  must,  then, 
be  brought  in  contact  with  the  bone  by  abundant  stirring, 
in  order  to  renew  and  maintain  the  action.  The  excess  of 
sulphuric  acid  rapidly  absorbs  moisture  from  the  air :  and 
the  final  result  is,  the  solution  of  the  bone,  or  most  of  it,  at 
an  expense  of  a  wasteful  excess  of  acid ;  while  the  product 
requires  moisture,  with  something  to  take  up  the  water, 
and  neutralize  the  excess  of  sulphuric  acid. 

"  On  a  small  scale,  cast-iron  vessels  could  be  employed. 


FERTILIZERS.  66 

A  pit  lined  with  blue  flag-stones,  or  with  hard  bricks 
closely  laid  in  common  lime  mortar  (not  cement),  would 
be  more  suitable  for  large  quantities.  After  the  bones  are 
disintegrated,  the  sloppy  mass  could  be  dried,  and  its  excess 
of  sulphuric  acid  utilized  by  admixture  of  ground  South 
Carolina  phosphate  rock  or  other  similar  material,  which 
would  thereby  be  converted  into  superphosphate." 

The  Russian  method  is  as  follows :  "  To  4,000  pounds  of 
whole  bones,  take  4,000  pounds  (about  90  bushels)  un- 
leached  hard-wood  ashes,  600  pounds  of  fresh-burned  lime, 
and  4,500  pounds  (562  gallons)  of  water.  First  slack  the 
lime  to  a  powder  (using  part  of  the  4,500  pounds  of  water 
for  this  purpose),  mix  it  with  the  ashes,  and,  placing  a 
layer  of  bones  in  a  suitable  receptacle,  —  a  pit  in  the 
ground,  lined  with  boards,  slab,  or  brick,  —  cover  them  with 
the  mixture  ;  lay  down  more  bones,  and  cover,  and  repeat 
this  until  half  the  bones,  2,000  pounds,  are  inter-stratified 
into  the  ashes  and  lime ;  then  pour  on  3,600  (450  gallons) 
pounds  of  water,  distributing  it  well,  and  let  stand.  From 
time  to  time  add  water,  to  keep  the  mass  moist.  As  soon 
as  the  bones  have  softened  so  they  can  be  crushed  between 
the  fingers  to  a  soft,  soap-like  mass,  take  the  other  2,000 
pounds  of  bone,  and  stratify  them  in  another  pit,  with  the 
contents  of  the  first.  When  the  whole  is  soft,  shovel  out 
to  dry ;  and  finally  mix  with  dry  muck  or  loam,  enough  to 
make  it  handle  well." 

Professor  Johnson's  method  is  as  follows :  "  Arrange  a 
circular  layer  of  bones,  closely  laid,  on  a  bed,  a  foot  thick, 
of  good  loam,  under  shelter ;  wet  them  from  a  watering- 
pot,  and  sprinkle  them  over  with  wood  ashes,  enough  to 
fill  all  the  chinks ;  then  give  a  coat  of  gypsum ;  put  upon 
that  a  few  inches  of  muck  or  loam,  adding,  all  along,  as 
much  water  as  will  well  moisten  the  earth  and  ashes,  but 
not  more  than  the  mass  can   readily  absorb ;  then  place 


66  FERTILIZERS. 

another  layer  of  bones,  with  ashes,  gypsum,  loam  or  muck, 
and  water,  as  before,  until  the  heap  is  built  up  several  feet  i 
finally  cover  with  loam,  and  keep  moist  by  adding  water 
from  time  to  time,  but  not  enough  to  run  away  from  the . 
bed.  When  the  bones  are  sufficiently  softened,  mix  well 
together  with  the  loam  used  on  the  bed,  and  cover  with 
loam."  Professor  Johnson  thinks  this  plan  would  require 
more  time,  but  perhaps  would  be  as  efficacious,  and  more 
convenient  than  the  process  last  described. 

Fifteen  or  twenty  years  I  tried  to  reduce  a  lot  of  bones 
by  a  method  like  this,  except  that  some  lime  was  used  with 
the  ashes.  The  results  were  not  satisfactory ;  possibly  the 
lot  was  kept  too  moist. 

"  A  third  method  suggested  is  by  inter-stratifying  them 
with  fermenting  horse-dung,  and  keeping  the  mass  moist    ' 
by  covering  with  loam,  and  adding  occasionally  urine  or 
liquor  from  the  dung  heaps." 

Professor  Johnson  mak^s  an  estimate  of  the  commercial 
value  of  the  product  made  by  the  Russian  process  :  — 

"  Four  thousand  pounds  of  average  bones  contain  4  per 
cent,  or  160  pounds,  of  nitrogen,  and  20  per  cent,  or  800 
pounds,  of  phosphoric  acid ;  4,000  pounds  of  good  wood 
ashes,  unleached,  contain  8^  per  cent,  or  340  pounds,  of 
potash,  and  2  per  cent,  or  80  pounds,  of  phosphoric  acid. 
Therefore 

« 160  pounds  of  nitrogen,  worth  20  cents  .        .         .      $32  00 
880  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  worth  9  cents  ,         79  20 

380  pounds  of  potash,  worth  5^  cents      .        .        .        18  70 

$129  90 

"  Admitting  that  there  is  no  loss  of  nitrogen,  and  no  loss 
or  gain  of  water,  and  taking  no  account  of  the  loam,  the 
value  of  $129.90  would  belong  to  13,100  pounds,  or  6  J  tons, 
of  the  finished  lime  compost.  The  cost  of  one  ton  would 
accordingly  be,  in  round  numbers,  §20." 


FERTILIZERS.  67 

The  cost  of  the  raw  material  would  be  about  as  follows :  — 

4,000  pounds  of  bone,  at  $20  per  ton $40  00 

90  bushels  of  unleached  ashes,  at  33  cents  per  bushel   .         .         30  00 
600  pounds  of  lime 2  00 

$72  00 


Deducting  one-tenth  as  waste  in  gases  and  evaporation,  as    $129  90 
claimed  by  manufacturers  of  fertilizers  .         .         .         12  99 

$116  91 
Deducting  cost  of  raw  material   .         .         .         .         .         .        72  00 

We  have  left,  to  pay  for  our  labor     '  .         .         .        .         .       $44  91 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society^ 
Mr.  William  Hunt  made  an  interesting  statement  of  his 
method  of  making  the  phosphoric  acid  in  bones  available. 
He  bought  the  elements  bone  and  ashes,  which  he  used 
freely  on  grapes  and  strawberries,  and  was  much  pleased 
with  the  results.  He  bought  from  three  to  ten  tons  of 
bones  per  year,  and  ashes  when  he  could  get  them.  He 
found  that  it  did  not  pay  to  use  acids  to  reduce  bones :  the 
same  money  in  potash  would  produce  better  results.  Last 
year  he  used  from  1,800  to  2,000  pounds  of  potash,  which 
cost  4i  cents  per  pound.  It  comes  in  casks  of  about  four 
hundred  pounds  each,  and  is  as  hard  as  stone.  He  uses 
four  or  five  parts  of  bone  to  one  of  potash.  The  bone,, 
which  is  ground,  but  not  very  fine,  is  spread  in  the  barn 
cellar.  The  potash  is  put,  in  large  pieces,  in  a  bag,  and 
there  broken  with  a  sledge-hammer,  and  put  in  a  tight  bar- 
rel, into  which  was  poured  boiling  water,  and  dissolved  to 
saturation.  In  handling  the  potash,  care  must  be  taken  not 
to  get  it  on  the  clothes  or  person.  It  is  then  turned  on 
the  bone,  which  sets  up  a  great  heat,  evolving  the  nitrogen^ 
to  absorb  which,  plaster  is  used.  It  is  allowed  to  remain 
two  or  three  weeks,  and  is  turned  over  several  times,  and 


68  FERTILIZERS. 

every  time  covered  with  plaster.  It  is  considerable  trouble 
to  reduce  bones  in  this  way,  but  it  gives  a  better  return 
for  the  money  than  buying  fertilizers  in  the  market.  After 
the  potash  has  acted  on  the  bone,  large  pieces  can  be 
crushed  in  the  fingers.  He  has  used  no  other  fertilizer 
than  this  on  his  strawberries,  and  it  is  equally  good  for 
grapes.  He  has  put  no  animal  manure  on  his  grapes  since 
they  were  set  out,  but  either  ashes  or  bone  and  potash ; 
and  this  treatment  has  been  so  satisfactory  that  he  will 
continue  it.  A  neighbor  has  used  a  similar  preparation  of 
bone  and  potash  on  his  pear-trees,  making  the  fruit  better 
and  fairer.  Mr.  Hunt's  method  would  be  apt  to  volatilize 
a  large  portion  of  the  nitrogen  from  the  bones  by  the  rapid 
caustic  action  of  the  potash.  ^ 

THE  THEORIES  OF  FERTILIZING. 

My  little  treatise,  aiming  at  facts,  can  hardly  stop  to 
discuss  theories.  When  the  able  men  who  have  spent 
their  lives  in  investigating  plant-feeding  differ  fundamen- 
tally in  their  views,  which  shall  we,  simple  farmers,  pin 
our  faith  to  ?  Boussingault  values  manures  in  proportion 
to  the  ammonia  they  contain,  making  no  account  of  the 
mineral  constituents.  Leibnitz  bases  his  value  on  what 
he  finds  in  the  ash,  and  ignores  the  ammonia  qualities. 
Ville,  in  his  theory  of  manuring,  advocating  the  use  of 
nitrogen  for  wheat,  potash  for  legumes,  such  as  beans, 
pease,  etc.,  and  phosphoric  acid  for  roots,  such  as  turnips, 
parsnips,  etc.,  considering  potash  —  lime  in  some  form  — 
and  nitrogen  as  making  a  complete  manure,  .advocates 
manuring  on  poor  soil  with  a  combination  of  all  of  these 
for  the  first  crop,  no  matter  what  that  may  be,  to  the 
end  that  the  soil  may  be  made  a  fertile  one ;  and,  after 
the  first  crop,  to  make  each  jear  an  application  only  of  the 
one  element  which  is  the  preponderating  one  in  the  crop 


FERTILIZERS.  6^ 

we  plant,  varying  the  kind  of  crop  each  season,  so  that 
each  element  in  turn  will  be  necessary,  and  thus,  in  the 
course  of  three  years,  each  will  have  been  applied.  I  un- 
derstand he  holds,  that,  by  this  system  of  manuring,  we 
may  continue  indefinitely  to  raise  crops,  using  yearly  not 
more  than  a  single  element  for  each. 

The  two  theories  that  are  especially  advocated  in  our 
day  are  what  may  be  called  the  Stockbridge  and  the  anti- 
Stockbridge.  The  professor  gave  a  great  impulse  to  the 
use  of  fertilizers  when  he  laid  his  theory  before  the  pub- 
lic. It  had  in  it  a  fascinating  simplicity,  and  seemed  to 
present  a  short  cut  to  success  in  farming.  As  tersely 
stated,  in  its  most  advanced  form,  by  the  company  who 
are  authorized  to  compound  the  formulas  that  bear  his 
name,  it  is,  "To  feed  plants  those  elements  found  by 
analysis  to  enter  into  their  composition,  and  which  they 
do  not  obtain  from  the  soil  or  air  in  sufficient  quantity ; 
to  feed  the  plant  rather  than  the  soil,  and,  in  the  feeding 
of  the  plant,  to  select  those  forms  of  plant-food  which 
experience  has  shown  are  best  adapted  to  produce  perfect 
growth."  The  objections  of  those  who  do  not  believe  in 
formulas  for  different  crops  are,  in  brief,  that  the  formu- 
las are  not  constant,  having  varied  in  the  course  of  four 
years,  —  that  for  corn,  from  4.7  to  6.2  for  nitrogen,  3.8  to 
7.2  for  phosphoric  acid,  and  6.2  to  7  for  potash ;  in  that 
for  the  potato,  from  3  to  4.4  in  nitrogen,  from  3.8  to 
7  in  phosphoric  acid,  and  from  4.9  to  10.2  in  potash; 
while  in  that  for  onions,  the  variation  was  from  3.1  to  3.9 
in  nitrogen,  5.3  to  6.4  in  phosphoric  acid,  and  7.9  to  8.3 
in  potash.  In  studying  the  tables  of  differences,  it  is  well 
to  bear  in  mind  the  remark  of  the  distingi'ished  Professor 
Voelcker :  "  Before  a  manure  can  be  obta^'ned  that  is  spe- 
cially adapted  to  particular  soils  or  crops,  it  is  necessary 
that  enterprising  and  intelligent  men  incu?  heavy  expense, 


70  FERTILIZERS. 

in  trying  all  kinds  of  fertilizing  mixtures,  before  they  can 
succeed  in  ascertaining  the  states  of  combinations,  and 
the  relative  proportions  in  which  these  shall  be  combined, 
in  order  to  produce  the  best  practical  results." 

The  original  formulas  published  by  Professor  Stock- 
bridge,  in  which  his  plant-food  was  determined  solely  by 
analyzing  the  plant,  —  as  further  experience  has  thrown 
light  on  the  subject,  the  feeding-power  of  the  plant  hav- 
ing been  found  to  be  a  factor  of  importance,  —  have  been 
considerably  modified.  He  has  increased  his  phosphoric 
acid  for  potatoes  and  grass  about  thirty-three  per  cent,  for 
corn  fifty  per  cent,  and  in  the  two  latter  has  decreased  the 
nitrogen  about  twenty-five  per  cent.  In  pease  and  beans 
he  has  increased  the  phosphoric  acid  about  fifty  per  cent,  and 
has  decreased  the  nitrogen :  and,  further,  some  of  the  finer 
distinctions  have  been  dropped ;  and  the  formulas  are  now 
generalized  so  far  as  to  have  in  several  instances  the  same 
formula  for  several  different  crops,  in  this  respect  approach- 
ing to  the  "  Ville  "  theory  of  plant-feeding.  The  objec- 
tion that  the  wide  latitude  shown  in  the  extremes  in  the 
nitrogen,  potash,  and  phosphoric  acid  in  the  corn,  potato, 
and  onion  formulas,  elevates  them  in  real  value  at  pres- 
ent but  little  above  a  good  superphosphate,  has  a  degree 
of  weight.  To  my  mind,  it  arises  from  the  fact  that 
formulas,  being  for  general  use,  can  be  compounded  only 
in  a  general  way,  by  reason  of  the  many  differences  in 
the  natural  condition  of  various  soils,  the  additional  vari- 
ations in  the  manurial  elements  which  they  may  have 
acquired  through  years  of  manuring,  and  the  difference 
between  crops  in  their  feeding  capacity.  Here,  I  think, 
we  have  the  weakness  of  the  Stockbridge  or  any  other 
formulas.  They  do  not  take  cognizance  of  the  state  of 
the  soil  to  which  they  are  to  be  applied;  neither  can  they 
do  so,  except  in  a  general  way,  for  otherwise  they  would 


FIjRTILIZEES.  71 

have  to  be  modified  to  suit  each  particular  case  presented. 
It  is  true  that  Professor  Lawes  says,  that,  after  an  experi- 
ence of  forty  years,  he  knows  little  of  certainty  about  the 
soil ;  what  he  has  learned  is,  what  plants  feed  on.  This 
seems  to  sustain  the  Stockbridge  theory ;  but  when  he 
adds  that  he  has  learned,  that,  if  he  puts  on  an  excess  of 
phosphoric  acid  or  potash  for  any  crop,  he  gets  it  back 
in  the  next  crop,  his  argument  is  one  for  the  use  of  any 
good  fertilizer,  rather  than  a  formula.  We  all  expect  to 
know  more  of  the  feeding-habits  of  plants,  and  the  artificial 
condition  and  natural  character  of  soils,  as  years  pass 
on ;  and,  as  this  knowledge  increases,  the  theory  will  have 
the  advantage  of  it,  and  be  modified  accordingly.  The 
Stockbridge  theory  gives  us  a  starting-point.  If  we  are  to 
wait,  in  all  patience,  until  science  points  out  a  perfect  way, 
meanwhile  we  stagnate. 

Take  the  case  of  Mr.  Bartholomew,  the  results  of  whose 
soil-tests  are  frequently  alluded  to  in  the  reports  of  the 
Connecticut  experiment  station.  By  testing  his  soil,  he  has 
really  learned  something  of  great  value  to  him,  though  the 
man  of  science  may  well  say,  that,  as  a  scientific  experi- 
ment, it  lacks  lots  of  conditions.  Now,  can  any  one  believe 
that  Mr.  Bartholomew  need  rest  simply  on  the  fact  that 
phosphate  is  the  ruling  element  needed  in  his  corn-crop  ? 
Can  he  not,  by  studying  the  effects  of  combinations  of 
fertilizers,  and  the  modifications  they  receive  by  different 
crops  on  different  soils,  gradually  work  nearer  and  nearer 
to  just  the  best  proportion  of  each  fertilizer  to  use  in  each 
combination  he  makes  for  each  crop  ?  and  is  not  this  work 
ing  up  to  formulas  ?  Just  as  England,  Scotland,  and  the 
United  States  have  each  their  man  to  thank  for  giving 
vitality  to  the  steam-engine,  entirely  aside  from  the  man 
who  may  have  originated  the  elementary  ideas,  and  will 
always  hold  him  in  remembrance,  though  the  relation  be- 


72  FERTILIZERS. 

tween  the  original  engine  and  the  after-product  may  be 
more  that  of  striking  contrast  than  one  of  resemblance, 
so,  I  believe,  we  farmers  ought  always  to  feel  a  debt  of 
gratitude  to  the  professor  for  starting  on  the  farm  the 
formula  system  of  manuring,  thus  insuring  it  a  future 
outside  of  the  laboratory.  All  manufacturers  of  formulas, 
as  far  as  I  have  observed,  now  take  into  consideration 
what  they  have  ascertained  of  the  feeding-hubits  of  plants. 
Now,  let  each  farmer  who  uses  formulas,  ascertain,  by 
actual  trial,  the  peculiar  needs  of  his  own  soil,  and  modify 
the  application  of  these  formulas  accordingly,  and  he  will 
certainly  have  something  better  in  his  hands  than  the 
best  superphosphate  in  the  market. 

TESTING  OUR  SOILS. 

Professor  Atwater  was  the  first  in  this  country,  as  far 
as  my  knowledge  extends,  to  digest  into  a  practical  plan 
the  idea  of  testing  our  soils  to  ascertain  which  of  the  three 
elements  is  especially  lacking.  The  test  is  most  satis- 
factory on  poor  or  worn-out  soils.  The  fertilizers  with 
which  to  make  these  tests  are  put  up  seven  in  number, 
making  a  full  set,  which  is  sold  for  seven  dollars,  —  the 
bare  cost.  The  sets  are  not  sold  in  parts ;  they  contain 
the  elements  singly  and  in  combination.  The  quantity  of 
each  lot  is  sufficient  for  one-tenth  of  an  acre,  making  fer- 
tilizing material  sufficient  for  seven-tenths  in  all.  Corn, 
potatoes,  or  any  other  crop,  may  be  planted,  leaving  two 
of  the  plots  without  any  manure,  on  the  remaining  tenth 
using  the  same  value  of  barn  manure.  The  design  of  these 
experiments  is,  to  enable  farmers  to  settle  the  question  in 
which  of  the  three  elements,  viz.,  nitrogen,  potash,  or 
phosphoric  acid,  the  soil  is  especially  deficient,  and  which 
combination  of  them  is  most  needed  to  produce  the  crop. 
Besides  the  set  to  settle  these  q  uestions,  others  are  put  up 


FERTILIZERS.  73 

to  enable  the  farmer  to  determine  what  form  of  nitrogen, 
potash,  or  phosphoric  acid  is  best  adapted  to  his  soil,  or  to 
produce  any  particular  crop  ;  also  a  set  to  determine  what 
special  fertilizer  was  most  profitable  for  any  special  crop. 
These  sets  are  supplied  by  the  Mapes  Formula  and  Peru- 
vian Guano  Company,  158  Front  Street,  New  York ;  also 
by  the  Bowker  Fertilizer  Company  of  Boston.  I  believe 
Messrs.  Mapes,  and  probably  Bowker  &  Co.,  send  out 
explanatory  circulars,  giving  full  instructions  how  to  use 
them.  Several  of  our  agricultural  papers  have  been  very 
active  in  encouraging  this  good  work.  I  have  used  one 
of  these  test  sets  on  my  own  land  with  profit. 

One  fact  may  be  safely  inferred  without  a  test;  viz., 
that  all  old  pasture-lands,  when  brought  under  cultivation, 
especially  need  phosphoric  acid  to  give  back  to  the  soil 
the  great  draught  that  has  been  made  upon  it  by  the 
phosphate  carried  away  in  the  milk  of  cows  and  in  the 
bones  of  the  young  calf.  I  advocate  the  Stockbridge 
theory  as  modified  by  the  soil-test  plan  advocated  by 
Professors  Atwater  and  Johnson:  first,  to  determine  by 
actual  tests  what  our  soils  lack, -and  then  use  the  Stock- 
bridge  formulas,  modified  by  the  knowledge  so  obtained. 
The  fundamental  idea  is,  that,  to  use  manures  economi- 
cally, we  must  select  those  which  fit  the  wants  of  the 
special  cases  where  they  are  to  be  applied.  The  old  idea 
of  the  practicability  of  analyzing  the  soil  to  determine 
what  plant-food  it  is  necessary  to  apply,  is  exploded.  It 
is  found,  that,  if  ten  times  the  amount  of  plant-food  for 
any  crop  is  mixed  with  the  soil,  the  chances  are  not  one 
in  ten  that  the  chemist  can  detect  its  presence.  The  crop 
can  do  it  far  better  than  the  chemist  can.  A  few  pounds 
of  guano  applied  to  an  acre  of  land  would  be  found  by 
the  crop,  and  make  a  difference  in  the  yield ;  while  Pro- 
fessor Johnson  tells  us,  that,  even  if  a  thousand  pounds 


74  FERTILIZERS. 

were  applied  to  an  acre,  the  chemist  might  not  be  able  to 
detect  its  presence. 

A  FAITH   THAT    IS    DANGEROUS.  —  BUYING    CHEAP  FERTIL- 
IZERS. 

There  is  a  class  of  farmers  who  have  a  degree  of  faith 
in  fertilizers,  but  regard  them  as  a  sort  of  "  hodge-podge  " 
combination  of  various  ingredients  sold  as  making  things 
grow,  which  sometimes  hit  it,  and  at  other  times  miss  it, 
either  because  the  maker  missed  his  guess,  or  because  he 
deliberately  intended  to  cheat  his  customers.  Believing, 
therefore,  that  one  fertilizer  is  just  about  as  likely  to  be  as 
good  as  another,  they  very  naturally  buy  the  cheapest  in 
the  market,  regarding  the  whole  business  as  a  mere  lot- 
tery. The  want  of  knowledge  that  lies  back  of  this 
view  of  fertilizers  reminds  me  of  the  doings  of  one  of  my 
foremen  some  years  ago.  I  sent  him  various  materials  for 
a  compost  heap,  and  also  a  lot  of  unleached  ashes,  guano, 
and  hen-dung,  with  particular  directions  what  to  mix,  and 
which  of  the  various  materials  to  keep  separate.  When  I 
came,  a  while  after,  to  view  the  state  of  affairs,  I  asked  to 
see  his  manure  piles.  He  showed  me  his  compost  heap. 
I  then  asked  for  the  ashes,  hen  manure,  and  guano.  "  It's 
all  there,  boss,"  said  he,  pointing  to  the  compost  heap ; 
"  and,  I  tell  you,  it's  the  greatest  manure  heap  you  ever 
saw."  I  thought  so,  too :  hen  manure,  guano,  unleached 
ashes,  glue-waste,  rotten  sea  manure,  tumbled  together 
pellmell,  and  the  free  ammonia  generated  filling  the  air 
with  its  pungent  fumes !  I  had  it  covered  at  once  with 
dry  muck,  and  then  endeavored  to  enlighten  him  on  the 
difference  between  a  "  hodge-podge "  of  material,  and  a 
compost  heap  intelligently  put  together. 

I  was  told  of  an  instance  where  last  season  a  market 
gardener,  a  man  of  superior  ability  in  some  departments 


FERTILIZERS.  75 

of  his  business,  having  used  fertilizers  in  former  years, 
believing  that  the  more  of  a  good  thing  the  better,  in 
planting  his  drill-crops,  cut  a  hole  in  each  bag  of  fertilizing 
material,  when  two  men  would  walk  along  the  rows,  carry- 
ing the  bag  between  them  until  it  was  empty.  A  gentle 
man  told  me,  who  saw  his  potatoes  dug,  that  at  that  time 
the  fertilizer  would  turn  up  two  or  three  inches  deep  under 
them.  This  gardener  used  sixty  or  more  tons  in  this  way ; 
and  more  or  less  of  his  crops,  as  might  have  been  antici- 
pated, were  any  thing  but  a  success. 

The  words  "  cheap  "  and  "  cheat "  are  almost  synony- 
mous when  applied  to  fertilizers  offered  for  sale.  Consider 
the  matter  a  moment.  Potash,  nitrogen,  and  phosphoric 
acid,  the  three  ingredients  which  give  to  them  about  all 
their  value,  have  become  regular  market  articles  in  every 
form  in  which  they  are  found,  whether  in  bones,  fish-waste, 
phosphate  rock,  German  potash  salts,  slaughter-house  waste, 
cotton-seed,  tankage,  or  in  any  other  combination  in  which 
they  come  into  the  market.  When  a  dealer  has  any  of  these 
for  sale,  and  offers  them  to  manufacturers  of  fertilizers,  he 
(the  manufacturer)  takes  an  average  sample  of  the  lot, 
puts  it  into  the  hands  of  his  chemist,  who  at  once  analyzes 
it,  and  reports  what  per  cent  of  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid, 
or  potash,  as  may  be,  the  article  contains.  The  manufactur- 
ers purchase  it  on  that  basis ;  viz.,  so  much  per  pound  for 
either  ingredient :  in  valuing  it,  reference  being  had  to  the 
degree  of  availability  in  which  they  exist  in  the  articles 
offered.  Potash,  nitrogen,  and  phosphoric  acid  being, 
therefore,  regular  market  articles,  how  can  any  manu- 
facturer undersell  his  fellow-dealers  with  a  fertilizer  of 
equal  value  ?  The  whole  thing  is  governed  by  the  common 
rules  of  business.  It  can  only  be  by  using  more  capital, 
and  so  buying  his  raw  materials  on  a  larger  scale,  and  thus 
getting  the  reduction  that  any  man  in  any  business  gets ; 


76  FERTILIZERS. 

or  by  improved  machinery,  improved  processes  of  manu- 
factures ;  or,  finally,  by  selling  more  than  his  fellow-dealers, 
and  so  being  able  to  afford  a  smaller  profit  on  each  ton.  The 
difference  in  the  selling-price  of  fertilizers  turns,  then,  on 
how  much  of  nitrogen,  potash,  and  phosphoric  acid  enter 
into  their  composition,  modified  by  the  above-named  cir- 
cumstances. 

The  analyses  published  by  the  able  chemists  at  the 
head  of  the  various  agricultural  colleges  are  the  great 
check  on  frauds,  and,  in  general,  a  very  safe  guide  to  the 
farmer  as  to  the  richness  of  the  various  fertilizers  in  the 
market,  though  they  do  not  pretend  to  be  able  to  tell 
whether  any  particular  one  is  cheaper  for  him  to  use  than 
barn  manure,  is  best  adapted  to  his  soil,  or  to  produce 
profitably  any  particular  crop :  this  is  a  matter  that  the 
farmer  must  determine  for  himself.  The  fertilizer  laws  of 
the  different  States  have  driven  most  of  the  "  cheap  and 
cheat"  class  from  the  market.  If  any  one  is  interested 
in  knowing  what  these  laws  have  accomplished  for  the  far- 
mer, let  him  read  the  last  chapter  of  Bruckner's  work  on 
"  American  Manures,"  where  he  will  find  analyses  of 
eleven  fertilizers  that  were  advertised  in  1870  for  an  aver- 
age price  of  $50  per  ton,  the  average  of  whose  real  value» 
aside  from  the  insoluble  phosphoric  acid  in  their  composi- 
tion, proved  to  be  but  $13.75  per  ton.  It  is  good  advice 
to  buy  no  fertilizer  of  which  you  have  seen  no  analysis 
published  in  the  bulletins  or  annual  reports  of  some  of  our 
agricultural  colleges.  There  is  one  just  now  being  sold  in 
•  Eastern  Massachusetts  by  a  new  firm  which  is  little  or 
nothing  more  than  a  mixture  of  ashes,  lime,  and  salt. 

With  the  best  of  helps,  we  take  as  much  risk  in  our  pur- 
chases as  wise  men  should  take ;  for  the  chemist  does  not 
tell  us  always  whether  our  phosphoric  acid  was  derived 
from  bones  or  the  mineral  rock,  or  our  nitrogen  from  fish 
or  flesh,  or  the  practically  worthless  leather  scraps. 


FERTILIZERS.  77 


MAKING  OUR  OWN  FERTILIZERS. 

There  is  one  way  by  which  a  fertilizer  can  be  afforded 
at  a  price  lov/er  than  the  standard  price  of  the  three  ele- 
ments that  enter  into  its  composition ;  and  that  is,  by  using 
such  local  waste  materials  as  are  not  accessible  to  dealers 
in  general.  Dead  animals  and  surplus  fish  supply  these 
material  in  some  localities.  If  farmers  in  the  vicinity  of 
large  towns  would  start  some  one  in  the  business  of  work- 
ing up  the  carcasses  of  horses,  cows,  and  other  animals 
that  die  from  disease,  accidents,  or  are  killed  because  they 
can  no  longer  serve  their  masters,  they  might  have  a  cheap 
source  for  superphosphate ;  for  in  the  hides,  manes  and 
tails,  oil,  grease,  gelatine,  hoofs,  and  horns,  the  manufac- 
turer would  find  sources  of  income  which  would  enable 
him  to  offer  the  waste,  in  the  shape  of  a  superphosphate, 
at  a  figure  below  the  average  market  rate. 

Where  it  is  necessary  to  have  heavy  machinery  to  grind 
bone  or  other  materials,  it  is  a  question  whether  either  the 
individual  farmer  or  an  association  of  farmers  can  make 
it  a  profitable  investment.  I  know  one  instance  where 
farmers  associated,  and,  buying  machinery,  ground  bones, 
treated  them  with  acid,  and  so  made  their  own  superphos- 
phate. The  leader  in  the  enterprise  stated  that  it  did  not 
pay  when  they  could  get  an  honestly  made  phosphate  at 
the  average  market  price.  The  Cumberland  Superphos- 
phate Company,  in  Maine,  an  association  of  individuals 
who  have  in  their  employ  experienced  chemists,  was  organ- 
ized, I  understand,  for  the  special  purpose  of  supplying  the 
members  of  the  association  with  an  honest  superphosphate 
as  cheaply  as  it  could  be  afforded.  I  am  told  that  pecuni- 
arily this  is  not  a  successful  enterprise ;  and  any  one  who 
looks  at  the  analysis  in  the  Maine  "  Report  of  the  Inspector 
of  Fertilizers  "  will  see  the  reason  why,  —  they  are  selling 


78  FERTILIZERS. 

an  over-good  article.  If  the  farmers  of  Maine  will  buy 
Red  Beach  at  $45  per  ton,  when  the  analysis  shows  a  valua- 
tion of  but  §26.19,  and  pass  by  Cumberland,  which  sells 
$40.83  worth  of  fertilizers  for  $40,  why,  they  are  not  as 
shrewd  Yankees  as  they  have  the  credit  of  being.  Here 
naturally  arises  the  question,  why  a  fertilizer  that  by 
analysis  is  shown  to  be  of  a  low  grade  in  value,  sometimes 
may  give  better  returns  than  one  of  higher  cost.  It  is 
generally  because  it  may  have  had  more  of  one  of  the  three 
elements  than  the  better  fertilizer,  and  hence  may  have 
been  better  adapted  for  some  particular  crop  to  which  it 
was  applied;  whereas  the  more  costly  one  would  have 
shown  returns  commensurate  with  its  cost  had  it  been 
applied  to  the  right  crop.  Where  bone-black,  ground 
bone,  or  finely  ground  phosphatic  rock  is  used,  it  will  pay 
farmers  to  make  their  own  superphosphate  when  the  pro- 
cess of  Dr.  Nichols,  and  especially  that  of  Professor 
Stockhardt  and  Dr.  Miiller,  are  follt)wed,  as  given  on  p. 
61.  For  the  past  three  years  I  have  made,  more  or  less, 
my  own  superphosphate. 

THE  MANUFACTURERS  OF  FERTILIZERS. 

I  have  no  war  to  wage  against  the  manufacturers  of 
fertilizers.  The  degree  of  dishonest}^  and  carelessness  or 
ignorance  of  former  years  is  now  rendered  impossible  in 
many  localities  by  State  laws  and  the  frequent  reports  of 
the  agricultural  chemists.  The  manufacturer  is  a  neces- 
sity that  we  farmers  cannot  do  without.  He  brings  to  the 
business  the  knowledge  and  the  capital  necessary  to  handle 
the  various  great  wastes  in  the  most  economical  manner  to 
get  therefrom  fertilizing  materials.  Most  of  them  have 
one,  and  some  of  them  two,  chemists  constantly  in  their 
employ ;  and  one,  I  know,  has  ten  thousand  dollars  invested 
in  a  building  wholly  devoted  to  the  single  department  of 


FERTILIZERS.  79 

repairing  machinery.  They  have  the  expense  of  work- 
men, clerks,  costly  rents,  travelling-agents,  to  meet  (one 
has  eleven),  and  allow  a  profit  to  the  retail  dealer. 
While  those  engaged  in  many  occupations  turn  their  capi- 
tal several  times  a  year,  making  more  or  less  of  profit  every 
time,  the  sales  of  the  manufacturer  of  fertilizers  are  lim- 
ited to  a  few  months  in  the  year ;  and  these  are  made  on 
long  time ;  so  that,  from  the  date  they  invest  money  in 
crude  materials,  to  the  time  they  receive  pay  for  the  same, 
is  nearer  two  years  than  one.  In  the  table  from  our  ex- 
perimental stations,  comparing  the  value  of  the  various 
fertilizers  with  the  market  price  of  the  materials  that 
enter  into  their  composition,  we  rarely  see  credit  given 
for  the  bags  in  which  they  are  packed.  These  must  cost 
not  far  from  a  dollar  and  a  half  for  each  ton  of  fertilizers, 
while  many  rot,  and  have  to  be  replaced  before  they  leave 
the  establishments.  From  considerations  such  as  these,  it 
appears  but  fair  to  concede  to  the  manufacturer,  as  his  just 
due,  an  advance  on  the  cost  of  the  materials  he  handles 
sufficient  to  cover  the  interest  on  his  plant,  the  cost  of 
production  and  of  selling,  with  a  fair  profit  added. 

Professor  Dabney  gives  good  testimony  to  the  honesty 
of  manufacturers  when  he  says,  that,  of  the  six  hundred 
samples  of  fertilizers  analyzed  in  North  Carolina,  but  one 
was  found  in  which  there  was  an  attempt  to  defraud  in 
the  element  ammonia ;  and  that,  if  I  remember  correctly^ 
was  in  an  imported  English  superphosphate. 

LEATHER-WASTE. 

This  consists  of  the  scraps  of  the  shoe-manufactories, 
the  waste  from  the  uppers  and  soles.  In  many  of  the 
establishments  it  is  burnt  as  fuel,  to  which  there  is  the 
objection  that  the  creosote  formed  from  it  destroys  the  mor- 


80  FERTILIZERS." 

tar  in  chimneys.  Owing  to  its  richness  in  ammonia,  and 
the  facility  with  which,  when  steamed  under  pressure,  it 
granulates  into  a  fine  blood-colored  powder,  or  readily 
grinds  up  after  being  charred,  it  has  been  largely  used  by 
ignorant  or  unprincipled  manufacturers  as  a  source  for 
nitrogen  in  their  fertilizers,  several  of  the  States  having, 
until  recently,  required  by  law  the  per  cent  of  nitrogen, 
without  designating  in  what  form  it  should  or  should  not 
be.  The  gelatine  present,  though  rich  in  ammonia,  is 
rendered  by  the  tannic  acid  nearly  insoluble,  and  hence 
for  aiikiual  crops  is  practically  worthless.  This  adultera- 
tion has  been  carried  on  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  the 
public  is  aware.  Tens  of  thousands  of  tons  have  been  so 
disposed  of,  as  I  have  been  informed  by  those  behind  the 
scenes.  In  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Report  for 
1882,  it  is  stated  that  leather  scraps  were  offered  in  Boston, 
early  in  the  season,  in  a  fine  state  of  subdivision,  at  $5.50 
per  ton ;  hut  later ^  in  the  month  of  May^  tliey  advanced  to 
$15  per  ton.  The  cause  of  this  advance,  it  would  require 
no  great  wit  to  perceive.  It  is  said  that  from  four  thou- 
sand to  five  thousand  tons  were  sold  in  and  about  Boston 
that  year,  to  be  used  in  the  manufacture  of  fertilizers.  If 
every  State  would  require  the  dealers  to  state  the  source 
from  which  their  nitrogen  was  obtained,  the  adulteration 
would  soon  cease,  for  every  chemist  has  at  hand  the 
means  of  detecting  its  presence.  Though  the  process  is  a 
slow  one,  leather  scraps,  even  the  coarsest,  from  sole 
leather,  will  eventually  decay  ;  but  this  fact  gives  no  value 
to  them  for  the  growing  of  annual  crops,  for  they  need  to 
be  years  in  a  mass  before  they  will  turn  black  and  rot.  I 
have  used  tons  of  them  around  currant-bushes,  where 
they  serve  to  keep  down  weeds,  and  in  the  course  of  years 
entirely  disappear,  becoming  plant-food.  If  used  into 
tillage-land,  they  become  a  nuisance,  for  more  or  less  of 


FERTILIZERS.  81 

them  will  keep  working  to  the  surface,  where  the  hoe- 
coming  in  contact  with  their  tough  substance,  will  be 
bounced  out  of  place,  with  the  danger  of  cutting  off  the 
plants  among  which  you  are  at  work.  The  only  other 
really  profitable  use  of  these  scraps  b}^  farmers  is  for 
covering  over  blind  drains,  to  keep  the  soil  from  sifting 
down  among  the  stones  or  tile.  I  have  used  them  in 
covering  miles  of  such  drains,  and  know  of  nothing  as 
good,  especially  where  the  sole-leather  waste  is  used.  I 
have  one  that  was  made  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  where  the 
scraps  —  over  small  stones,  with  tile  below ; — appear  to  be 
as  useful  as  at  the  first. 

SOME  FACTS  AND  SUGGESTIONS. 

In  using  potash  or  phosphoric  acid  in  any  form,  we  will 
not  forget  that  it  never  wastes  in  the  soil  to  any  extent ; 
and,  if  there  is  more  applied  than  a  crop  needs,  the  next 
crop  will  find  it.  "  Fertilizers  rich  in  ammonia,  Peruvian 
guano,  sulphate  of  ammonia,  etc.,  should  be  applied,  a 
little  at  a  time,  and  often."  Clayey  soils  do  not,  as  a  rule^ 
need  so  much  potash  or  nitrogen  as  phosphoric  acid. 
Nitrogen  tends  to  promote  leaf-growth.  Fertilizers  ap- 
plied to  poor  land  produce  more  effect  than  when  applied 
to  rich  land.  In  twenty-five  experiments  with  various  fer- 
tilizers, under  the  direction  of  Professor  Atwater,  it  was 
found  that  the  most  important  factors  in  the  growth  of 
the  corn-crop  were,  first,  the  soil ;  next,  the  season.  It 
was  a  sensible  and  suggestive  remark  of  Mr.  Bartholomew, 
that,  if  the  bone  in  the  soil  does  not  all  decompose  the  first 
year,  the  nitrogen  contained  in  it  goes  over  with  it — ^is 
not  wasted.  If  but  one  of  the  commercial  fertilizers  is  to 
be  used,  let  it  be  bone.  The  finer  the  bone,  and  the  finer 
and  dryer  the  fertilizer,  the  more  valuable  it  is.  "  The 
most  profitable  fertilizers,"  says  Professor  Atwater,  "are 


82  FERTILIZERS. 

those  that  fit  special  cases.  ...  To  compost  fish-waste  with 
plaster  and  earth  is  more  economical  than  to  treat  it  with 
acid."  "  The  soil,"  says  Professor  Ville,  "  is  the  medium 
in  which  we  convert  at  pleasure  phosphoric  acid,  potash, 
and  nitrogen  into  any  crop  we  choose  to  grow."  When 
the  animal  matter  in  bones  decays,  the  phosphoric  acid  in 
the  bones,  say  our  scientific  teachers,  is  in  a  reverted  con- 
dition. Says  Professor  Atwater,  "  The  common  impression 
among  farmers,  that  the  best  use  of  artificial  fertilizers  is 
to  supplement  farm  manures,  is  doubtless,  in  ordinary 
circumstances,  correct."  Both  Mr.  Lawes  and  Professor 
Ville  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  largest  crops  are  grown 
by  chemical  manures.  Salt-cake  (sulphate  of  soda)  con- 
tains about  forty  per  cent  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  is  an 
excellent  material  to  check  decomposition.  Under  this 
plea,  it  is  used  by  some  manufacturers  with  altogether  too 
liberal  a  hand  in  their  fertilizers,  for  of  itself  it  is  of  but 
little  value  as  plant-food.  Nitre-cake,  the  refuse  from 
the  manufacture  of  nitric  acid,  contains  about  forty-seven 
per  cent  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  is  an  excellent  material  to 
scatter  over  manure  heaps,  to  hold  the  ammonia.  The 
difference  between  nitrogen  in  barnyard  manure  and  in 
ammoniacal  salts  (sulphate  of  ammonia,  etc.)  was  strik- 
ingly shown  in  some  of  the  experiments  of  Mr.  Lawes, 
where  forty-one  pounds  of  nitrogen  in  the  latter  produced 
as  great  effect  on  a  crop  of  barley  as  did  two  hundred 
pounds  in  the  former.  Dr.  Voelcker  found  in  perfectly 
fresh  horse-dung  but  one  pound  oifree  ammonia  in  fifteen 
tons,  though  there  was  nitrogen  enough  to  supply  one 
hundred  and  forty  pounds  of  it.  This  suggests  the  wis- 
dom of  first  composting,  and  so  decomposing  and  making 
it  soluble,  when  we  want  prompt  effects.  Barnyard  ma- 
nures decompose  faster  in  porous  (sandy  or  gravelly)  soils 
than  in  compact  ones.    Say^  Professor  Goessmann,  "  Good 


FERTILIZERS.  83 

manuring  increases  the  quality  as  well  as  the  quantity  of 
our  crops.  .  .  .  Besides  salt-cake  (as  mentioned  above), 
nitre-cake,  ground  oyster-shells,  spent  lime,  plaster,  and 
soil  are  mixed  with  ground  bone  as  preservatives,  dryers, 
or  adulterants." 

In  purchasing  our  elements  out  of  which  to  make  fertil- 
izers, their  degree  of  fineness  or  dryness  has  an  important 
bearing  on  their  value.  Says  Professor  Goessmann,  "  The 
mechanical  condition  of  any  fertilizing  material,  simple  or 
compound,  deserves  the  most  serious  consideration  of 
farmers,  when  articles  of  a  similar  chemical  character  are 
offered  for  their  choice.  The  degree  of  pulverization  con- 
trols, almost  without  exception,  under  similar  conditions, 
the  rate  of  solubility,  and  the  more  or  less  rapid  diffusion 
of  the  different  articles  of  plant-food  throughout  the  soil. 
The  state  of  moisture  exerts  a  no  less  important  influence 
on  the  pecuniary  value  in  case  of  one  and  the  same  kind 
of  substance.  Two  samples  of  fish  fertilizers,  although 
equally  pure,  may  differ  from  fift}^  to  a  hundred  per  cent  in 
commercial  value,  on  account  of  mere  difference  in  moisture. 
If  obliged  to  increase  our  home  resources  of  manure,  he 
advises  to  compound  fertilizers  from  the  most  suitable  stock 
in  the  market.  Although  a  first  trial  of  that  course  of 
action  may  not  realize  all  the  advantages  expected,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  about  the  correctness  of  the  statement, 
that  the  best  financial  success  on  the  part  of  the  farmer 
can  ultimately  be  secured  only  by  the  gradual  adoption. of 
that  system  of  manuring  the  farm.  Our  leading  dealers  in 
fertilizers  begin  to  realize  the  late  tendency  in  their  trade, 
and  are  preparing  to  meet  the  call." 


84 


FERTILIZERS. 


COMMERCIAL    RETAIL    VALUES    OF    FERTILIZING    INGRE- 
DIENTS IN  RAW  MATERIALS  AND  CHEMICALS. 


For  the  Years 


Nitrogen  in  sulphate  of  ammonia    .... 

"        ''  nitrate  of  soda 

"        *'  dried  and  finely  ground  fish  .     . 
Organic  nitrogen  in  guano  and  fine-ground 

blood  and  meat 

Organic  nitrogen  in  cotton-seed,  linseed  meal, 

and  in  castor-pomace 

Organic  nitrogen  in  finely  ground  bone  .  . 
''  ''  "  fine,  medium  bone  .  . 
*'  "  "  medium  bone  o  o  .  . 
*'  "  "  coarse,  medium  bone  . 
"  "  **  "  bone,  horn  shav- 
ings, hair,  and  fish-scraps 

Phosphoric  acid  soluble  in  water      .     .     .  -  . 
"  "        "       ammonia  citrate .     . 

"  "    insoluble    in    dry,    finely 

ground  fish,  and  in  fine  bone 

Phosphoric  acid  insoluble  in  fine,  medium 

bone 

Phosphoric  acid  insoluble  in  medium  bone    . 
"  "  "  "  coarse,  medium 

bone 

Phosphoric  acid  insoluble  in  coarse  bone  .     . 
"  "  '*  "  finely  ground 

rock  phosphate 

Potash  as  high-grade  sulphate 

"      kainite 

"      muriate 


Cents  per  Pound. 


1881.       1882.       1883.       1884, 


22i 

26 

20 

20 

16 
15 
14 
13 
12 

11 

12i 
9 

6 

5i 
5 

4 

4i 


24 

24 

18 
17 
15 
14 
13 

11 

12i 

9 

6 

5i 
5 

4i 
4 

3 

7 
5 
5 


26 
20 
23 

23 

18 
17 
15 
14 
13 

11 
11 

8 


5i 
5 

4i 
4 

2f 
7 

4i 
4i 


22 

18 
20 

18 

18 
18 
16 
14 
12 

10 
10 

9 


5i 
5 

4 

2i 
7i 
4i 
4i 


The  retail  rates  average  about  twenty  per  cent  higher 
than  the  wholesale  rates  of  this  table.  As  a  rule,  fertilizing 
materials  are  cheapest  in  the  fall  and  winter.    At  the  time 


FERTILIZERS.  86 

of  writing  (spring  of  1885),  nitrogen  in   some   forms   is 
somewhat  higher  than  last  season. 

The  word  "  organic  "  in  the  above  table  may  be  practi- 
cally ignored  by  us  farmers  when  figuring  on  these 
fertilizers.  The  table  is  an  estimate  of  relative  commercial 
values  agreed  upon  by  the  chemists  and  directors  of  the 
experimental  stations  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and 
New  Jersey.  In  point  of  fact,  competition  forced  prices 
below  these  rates,  as  will  be  noted  in  the  following  table, 
which  gives  the  prices  at  which  the  nitrogen,  phosphoric 
acid,  and  potash  were  sold  in  various  combinations  in  1884 
by  leading  dealers :  — 


Average  cost  per  pound  of  nitrogen  in  nitrate  of  soda 

in  sulphate  of  ammonia 

in  dried  blood     . 

in  ammonite  and  tankage 

in  dried  fish 

in  castor-pomace 

in  hair  manure   . 


Cents. 
16.9 
17.1 
18.3 
15.8 
12.5 
20.2 

lo.a 


Average  cost  of  phosphoric  acid  from  bone-black,  soluble  in  water,  7.3 

cents ;  insoluble,  2.9  cents. 
Average  cost  of  soluble  phosphoric  acid  from  South  Carolina  rock, 
8.6  cents;  insoluble,  1.9  cents. 

Cents. 

Average  cost  of  potash  per  pound  in  muriate      .         •         .         .3.7 

«  "  "  "  inkainite        .         .         .         .4.0 

"  "  «  «  in  sulphate  .         .         .     7.2 

The  above  are  the  retail  prices,  delivered  on  cars  or 
boats. 

Professor  Cook  of  the  New  Jersey  experimental  station^ 
from  which  valuable  report  the  above  table  was  taken, 
states  that  the  samples  analyzed  by  the  station  in  1884,  in 
five  cases  out  of  six  contained  more  plant-food  than  their 
minimum  guaranties  demanded:  they  were  better  than 
the  manufacturers  claimed. 


86  FERTILIZERS. 


COMMERCIAL   AND   AGRICULTULRAL   VALUES   OF   FERTIL- 

IZERS. 

The  prices  in  the  above  tables  are  the  market  or  com- 
mercial value  of  the  three  elements.  Says  Professor  Cook, 
"  The  agricultural  value  of  a  fertilizer  —  in  other  words,  the 
profit  which  its  use  secures  for  a  farmer  in  an  increased 
crop  —  is  in  no  way  indicated  by  its  market  price.  Reliable 
mformation  concerning  agricultural  values  must  be  sought 
upon  the  farm,  and  not  by  the  guesses  of  the  farmer,  but 
from  the  actual  weight  of  the  crops  grown  under  known 
conditions,  and  upon  accurately  measured  areas."  Hot  or 
cold,  wet  or  dry,  seasons,  will  affect  the  results  obtained 
from  fertilizers,  but  cannot  be  said  to  affect  their  commer- 
cial value ;  in  fact,  the  average  of  numerous  experiments 
demonstrates  that  these  extremes  have  a  greater  effect  on 
crops  fed  on  barn  manure  than  on  those  fed  by  fertilizers. 

WHERE   TO    OBTAIN   OUR  FERTILIZING  MATERIAL  AT  THE 
LOWEST   COST. 

The  table  (84)  directs  us  for  what  substances  to  inquire 
when  we  go  into  the  general  market.  But  there  are  out- 
side sources  which  are  more  or  less  accessible  to  the  aver- 
age farmer.  Even  in  the  varied  products  of  the  farm,  the 
three  elements  vary  greatly  in  cost. 

Professor  George  Caldwell  makes  the  following  esti- 
mates of  the  value  of  nitrogen,  potash,  and  phosphoric 
acid  in  various  combinations.  Assuming  that  in  1884 
potash  could  be  purchased  at  5  cents  per  pound,  phos- 
phoric acid  at  9,  and  nitrogen  at  from  16  to  18  cents, 
then,  at  these  rates, — 


FERTILIZERS. 


87 


Cost  of 
Nitrogen 
per  Lb. 

Cost   of 
Potash. 

Cost  of 
Phos- 
phoric 
Acid. 

In  cow  manure,  at  $1.16  per  thousand  pounds 

(about  $7  per  cord)          

In    horse   manure,   at   $1.54  per  thousand 

pounds  (about  $6.90  per  cord) 

In  rock-weed,  at  $1.21  per  thousand  pounds 

(about  $4.25  per  cord) 

In  night-soil,  at  $0.43  per  thousand  pounds, 

the  price  of  collecting 

In  tanner's  waste  (clippings  of  hides  and 

hair),  at  $0.78  per  thousand  pounds .  .  . 
In  hen  manure,  at  $4  per  thousand  pounds. 

Cents. 

19 

14 

20i 

■     2^. 

1 
27 

Cents. 
6 
4i 

6f^ 

1 

Cento. 
11 

6A 
15 

The  tanner's  waste  would  decompose  slowly,  and  there- 
fore its  components  would  practically  be  of  less  value  than 
in  the  other  manures  named.  At  43  cents  per  thousand 
pounds,  night-soil  would  cost  about  $2.50  per  cord.  As 
average  night-soil  is  worth  about  f  6  per  cord,  the  professor 
evidently  means  a  purer  article  than  we  farmers  usually 
find.  Most  farmers  will  be  surprised  at  the  low  value 
given  hen  manure  in  the  table,  but  it  requires  a  pretty 
good  article  to  reach  even  that  valuation.  Hold  fast  to 
the  fundamental  principle,  that  no  more  value  in,  potash, 
phosphoric  acid,  and  nitrogen  can  come  from  the  manure  of 
any  animal  than  is  fed  to  it  in  its  food,  minus  the  quantity 
of  these  elements  taken  up  to  maintain  its  vitality,  and 
perform  its  various  functions,  which  in  fowls  includes  the 
eggs  laid  and  the  annual  growth  of  feathers.  And  next 
consider  the  fact  that  two  bushels  of  corn  will  support  an 
average  fowl  a  year,  and  that  this  grain  contains  about 
38  cents  in  value  of  the  three  elements ;  and,  finally,  that 
of  this,  but  about  half  can  be  found  in  the  manure,  of 


88  FERTILIZERS. 

which  but  about  half  can  be  saved,  making  a  little  over 
a  quarter  of  the  38  cents  in  the  manure  saved  from  a 
fowl  annually.  Where  we  are  so  situated  that  we  can  go 
outside  the  general  market  for  our  fertilizing  elements,  -ve 
can  sometimes  pick  them  up  at  a  very  cheap  rate.  The 
present  season  (1885)  I  have  purchased  at  the  town  of 
Gloucester,  Mass.,  fish-waste  in  the  form  of  liver,  halibut, 
and  herring  chum  at  a  remarkably  low  figure,  —  the  liver 
chum  at  $4  per  ton,  which  would  make  the  nitrogen  in  it 
come  to  about  4J  cents  per  pound,  and  the  phosphoric  acid 
at  about  li  cents.  Halibut  chum  is  now  worth  $8  per  ton, 
which  would  bring  the  nitrogen  in  that  form  about  8  cents 
per  pound,  and  the  phosphoric  acid  2J  cents  per  pound. 
Fish-skins,  by  which  I  mean  the  skins,  bones,  and  fins 
stripped  from  fish,  which  are  sold  under  the  name  of  "  bone- 
less fish,"  are  sold  this  season  in  Gloucester  at  the  low  figure 
of  '14  per  ton.  I  have  not  an  analysis  at  hand ;  but  they  are 
very  rich  in  both  ammonia  and  phosphoric  acid,  having 
about  4.50  of  the  former,  and  6  of  the  latter.  They  are 
very  salt,  being  stripped  from  salted  fish.  In  this  form  the 
ammonia  cannot  cost  over  6  cents,  or  the  phosphoric  acid 
over  2  cents,  per  pound.  "  Chum,"  or  pomace,  from  waste 
mackerel  or  herring,  is  sold  the  present  season  as  low  as 
$6.50  per  ton.  There  is  usually  a  large  per  cent  of  salt 
in  its  composition.  The  ammonia  at  these  rates  cannot 
be  over  6  cents,  and  the  phosphoric  acid  over  2|  cents,  per 
pound. 

I  would  have  my  farmer  friends  understand  that  the 
above  rates  are  lower  than  usual,  — about,  on  an  average, 
from  a  third  to  a  half  the  usual  price ;  still,  at  the  usual 
prices  of  material,  fish-waste  is  the  cheapest  source  for 
nitrogen. 

Says  Professor  Goessmann,  ''  Manufacturers  put  it  in  a 
better  mechanical  condition,  and  sell  it  at  about  $34  per 


FERTILIZERS.  89 

ton,  or  an  advance  of  from  two  hundred  to  four  hundred 
per  cont."  In  these  forms,  about  all  the  ammonia  may  be 
assumed  to  be  available  the  same  season  they  are  used, 
and  from  one-half  to  two-thirds  of  the  phosphoric  acid. 
As  these  fish-wastes  are  usually  heavily  charged  with  salt 
(used  when  fresh,  to  keep  them),  it  is  the  best  plan  to  use 
them  on  salt-loving  crops,  as  cabbage,  onions,  and  mangel- 
wurzels.  They  can  either  be  spread  on  the  surface  in  the 
fall,  harrowed  in,  or  slightly  ploughed  under,  or  be  com- 
posted in  the  spring  with  barn  manure  into  which  enters 
a  good  proportion  of  horse  manure.  Be  sure  to  cover  the 
heap,  especially  the  top,  with  dry  earth  and  plaster.  These 
wastes  are  usually  bought  up  by  manufacturers  of  fertil- 
izers ;  and  the  surplus  to  be  found  in  the  market,  acces- 
sible to  farmers,  is  never  very  large.  I  have  used  them 
for  many  years  somewhat  extensively,  having  fifty  tons  of 
them  at  the  present  time,  mostly  composted  with  barn 
manure  and  rock-weed. 

As  my  treatise  is  for  the  benefit  of  my  fellow-farmers, 
I  will  give  the  addresses  of  parties  who  deal  in  these  and 
other  fertilizing  materials  at  first  hand  ;  though  it  may  not 
be  the  wisest  thing  for  me  to  do,  viewed  from  a  pecuniary 
stand-point,  as  it  will  tend  to  send  me  to  a  dearer  market* 

Dealer  in  fish-skins,  Fred  L.  Stacey  of  Gloucester,  Mass. ; 
dealers  in  liver  and  halibut  chum,  A.  W.  Dodd  &  Co.  of 
Gloucester,  Mass.,  and  Messrs.  Parker  &  Smith,  Derby 
Wharf,  Salem,  Mass. 

Dealers  in  unleached  Canada  ashes,  Messrs.  Munroe, 
Judson,  &  Stroup,  Oswego,  N.Y. 

Dealers  in  ammonite,  M.  L.  Shoemaker  (he  has  two 
grades),  Philadelphia,  Penn. 

Dealers  in  tankage,  John  Taylor  &  Co.,  Trenton,  N.J. ; 
Armour  &  Co.,  Chicago  (in  ten-ton  loads). 

The  list  might  be  indefinitely  extended,  but  I  give  the 


90  FEETILIZERS. 

addresses  of  those  who  deal  in  fertilizing  material  not 
often  found  by  farmers  in  the  market.  The  reports  from 
the  various  agricultural  experimental  stations  contain  the 
addresses  of  almost  numberless  manufacturers  and  dealers 
in  superphosphates,  potash,  and  ammonia. 

FORMULAS,  AND  HOW  TO  COMPOUND  THEM. 

From  what  I  have  written,  my  farmer  friends  will  see 
that  I  do  not  present  the  formulas  I  have  used  as  the  best 
guide  for  them  to  follow.  Their  soil,  in  its  natural  or  arti- 
ficial condition,  may  differ  from  my  own ;  and  so  these 
formulas  would  require  modification  accordingly.  In  my 
own  practice,  perhaps,  all  these  may  be  improved ;  while  I 
know  the  one  for  beans  and  pease  can  be :  and  I  expect 
to  find,  from  some  indications,  I  can  dispense  with  more 
or  less  of  the  potash  on  most  of  my  land. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  they  are  all  what  are  known  as 
"  complete "  manures ;  that  is,  each  has  all  three  of  the 
essential  elements  of  plant-food.  It  is  quite  possible,  that, 
on  land  that  has  been  manured  for  a  series  of  years,  espe- 
cially if  by  stable  manure,  the  potash  probably,  and  the 
phosphoric  acid  possibly,  may  be  in  excess  of  the  needs 
of  crops,  and  therefore  can  for  awhile  be  omitted  from 
formulas ;  but  in  such  case  we  need  to  be  on  the  watch 
to  detect  when  the  limit  is  reached,  and  govern  ourselves 
accordingly,  bearing  in  mind  that  the  quantity  of  crop  is 
.always  measured  by  the  element  of  which  the  soil  has  the 
smallest  quantity,  and  that  a  large  quantity  of  one  ele- 
ment will  not  help  the  crop  over  a  deficiency  in  either  of 
the  others.  This  is  the  reason  why,  when,  for  instance, 
fish  is  used  liberally,  a  manure  especially  rich  in  nitrogen, 
for  a  while  there  are  enormous  crops ;  but  they  soon  grow 
less,  even  under  a  heavier  application.  The  trouble  is, 
the  potash  of  the  land  has  been  exhausted.    That  this  is  the 


FERTILIZERS.  91 

trouble  can  be  proved  by  using  manures  rich  in  potash, 
when  fertility  will  return. .  My  farms,  four  of  them,  are 
made  up  of  land  ranging  from  sandy  loam  to  strong  loam 
and  reclaimed  meadow.  They  have  been  under  cultiva- 
tion from  one  to  ten  years.  During  the  first  five  years 
they  were  dressed  with  various  manures,  and  more  or  less 
with  commercial  fertilizers ;  during  the  last  five  years  I 
have  depended  more  and  more  on  commercial  fertilizers, 
using,  of  the  three  ingredients  which  compose  these,  from 
thirty-five  to  forty-five  tons  annually.  Much  of  this  I 
have  used  in  connection  with  barnyard  manure,  using  the 
latter  broadcast,  and  the  fertilizer  in  the  drills.  I  say 
drills,  for  I  have  not  planted  corn,  beans,  or  potatoes  in 
hills  for  the  past  dozen  years ;  neither  do  I  believe  that 
any  of  my  farmer  friends,  after  once  giving  the  drill 
system  a  fair  trial,  will  ever  go  back  to  the  old  way. 

FORMULAS  FOR  VARIOUS   CROPS. 

The  following  table  of  formulas  for  various  crops  are 
such  as  are  used  by  fertilizer  dealers  of  good  repute.  I 
present  them  as  good  starting-points,  to  be  followed  or 
varied  as  the  characteristics  of  each  field,  as  developed  by 
the  soil-tests,  may  iiidicate.  The  figures  in  the  first  three 
columns  indicate  the  per  cent  of  ammonia,  etc.,  needed. 
In  the  next  they  indicate  how  many  pounds  of  the  mixture 
to  apply. 


92 


FERTILIZERS. 


Potatoes 

Corn 

Cabbage  and  cauliflower  .     . 

Squash 

Tomatoes 

Fruit  and  fruit-bearing  vines 

Oats 

Rye 

Strawberries 

Raspberries 

Asparagus 

Wheat 

Barley 

Grass 

Melon 

Tobacco 

Onion 

Cucumber 

Turnips 

Carrot 

Beet 

Celery 

Lettuce 

Pease  and  beans 

Cotton 

Hops     ........ 

Sugar-cane 

/ 


Phos- 

Ammouia, 

Potash, 

phoric 

per  cent. 

per  cent. 

Acid, 
per  cent. 

6 

8 

5 

2i 

6 

7 

6 

7 

5 

6 

7 

5 

6 

7 

5 

2i 

11 

8 

5 

9 

5 

5 

9 

5 

H 

8 

6 

H 

8 

6 

5 

9 

6 

6 

3 

n 

6 

3 

7i 

6 

7 

5 

6 

7 

5 

5i 

8 

4 

5 

9 

5 

5f 

7 

5 

5 

8 

7 

7 

9 

5 

7 

9 

5 

7 

9 

5 

7 

9 

5 

2 

7i 

8 

2i 

4 

7i 

3i 

13 

5 

2i 

7i 

8 

Lbs. 


500 

600 

1,000 

1,000 

750 

600 

400 

400 

600 

600 

500 

200 

200 

400 

1,000 

1,000 

1,000 

1,200 

400 

650 

400 

1,000 

1,000 

500 

300 

1,000 

800 


to  1,000 
"1,000 
"  2,500 
"  1,500 
"1,000 

"  600 
"  600 
"  800 
"  800 
"  700 
"  600 
"  600 
"  700 
"  1,600 
"2,000 
"2,000 
"  1,600 
"  600 
"  900 
"  800 
"  1,400 
"1,400 
"     800 


In  these  formulas,  all  the  phosphoric  acid  is  to  be  avail- 
able ;  that  is,  either  soluble  or  reverted,  and  mostly  of  the 
former.  It  will  be  noticed  that  all  these  formulas  are 
conxplete  fertilizers;  that  is,  contain  all  of  the  three  essen- 
tial elements  of  plant-food.  Let  me  again  enjoin  on  my 
fellow-farmers,  when  using  a  portion  of  them  in  the  drill, 


FERTILIZERS.  9b 

in  order  to  prevent  destroying  the  seed,  to  mix  thoroughly 
with  the  soil  before  planting ;  using  the  top  of  a  cedar-tree 
to  which  a  stone  has  been  tied,  dragging  it  along  through 
the  furrow,  or  a  brush  barn-broom,  or  even  a  hoe  if  care- 
fully dragged.  With  extra  care  in  mixing  for  crops  such 
as  corn,  the  whole  of  the  fertilizer  might  be  used  in  the 
furrows  or  hill ;  but  no  good  farmer  would,  as  a  rule,  raise 
his  crop  in  that  way.  With  potatoes,  fertilizers  are  some- 
times successfully  applied  by  first  covering  the  potato  with 
an  inch  of  earth,  and  then  sowing  it,  finishing  by  covering 
the  seed  to  the  usual  depth.  A  portion  can  be  applied  to 
the  corn-crop  after  it  is  up ;  but  in  such  cases  it  must  be 
cultivated  under,  or  the  plant  will  get  but  little  benefit 
from  it. 

In  using  these  formulas,  if  you  live  near  a  good  market, 
your  vegetable  crop  will  bring  more  than  it  otherwise 
would ;  while  your  land,  and  probably  your  labor-bill,  will 
be  higher  than  it  would  be  back  in  the  country,  and- the 
cost  of  the  fertilizer  will  be  as  cheap  or  cheaper.  Such 
being  the  case,  it  would  be  wise  to  use  the  larger  quantity 
named,  and  to  experiment  a  little  to  ascertain  whether  or 
not,  under  your  exceptional  circumstances,  it  might  not 
pay  you  even  to  increase  this.  Fertilizers,  as  has  been 
said,  do  not  respond  so  well  on  soil  that  has  been  heavily 
enriched  with  barn  and  other  manures  for  a  series  of  years. 
On  very  rich  truck-farms,  some  fertilizers,  even  when  lib- 
erally applied,  have  but  little  effect.  In  such  cases  the 
ground  is  already  heavily  stocked  with  the  surplus  left 
over  by  many  manurings,  and  will  sometimes  yield  full 
crops  without  help  from  any  manure  whatever ;  but  usually 
nitrate  of  soda,  sulphate  of  ammonia,  guano,  or  bone  will 
give  good  paying  returns,  even  on  such  soil.  I  have 
made  use  of  the  above  formulas,  with  excellent  results,  on 
crops  of  potatoes,  corn,  i)ease,  beans,  tomatoes,  cucumbers, 


94  FERTILIZERS. 

melon,  squash,  onions,  oats,  grass,  beet,  and  Hungarian 
millet. 

HOW  TO  COMPOUND  OUR  OWN  FORMULAS. 

To  start  with,  we  will  aim  to  get  our  three  elements 
from  more  than  one  source,  believing  that  the  greater  the 
variety  from  which  they  are  obtained,  the  better  it  will  be 
for  the  varied  and  varying  wants  of  the  crop.  In  making 
up  my  formulas,  I  start  with  some  one  fertilizer,  and  then 
add  to  it,  from  various  sources,  what  I  need  to  complete 
it.  To  illustrate,  let  us  take  the  first  on  the  list,  that  for 
potatoes. 

The  potato  formula  calls  for :  ammonia,  6  per  cent ;  pot- 
ash, 8  per  cent ;  phosphoric  acid,  8  per  cent ;  quantity  re- 
quired, 1,000  pounds.  That  is,  of  this  1,000  pounds,  6  per 
cent,  which  is  1,000  X  .06,  must  be  ammonia,  =  60  pounds; 
8  per  cent  potash,  that  is,  1,000  X  .08,  =  80  pounds; 
and  8  per  cent  phosphoric  acid,  =  1,000  X  .08,  =  80 
pounds.     The  formula  would  stand  thus :  — 

Ammonia.  Potash.  Phosphoric  acid. 

Wanted :  60  pounds.  80  pounds.  80  pounds. 

Let  US  start  with  a  superphosphate,  which  we  will 
assume  to  analyze  as  follows :  Ammonia,  3.50  ;  available 
phosphoric  acid,  11.  From  this  we  will  supply  the  phos- 
phoric acid  needed  in  the  formula,  which,  as  there  are  11 
pounds  in  every  hundred,  will  require  as  many  hundred 
pounds  as  11  is  contained  in  80,  which  will  be  7  hundred, 
and  y^Yi  which  would  be  just  about  27  pounds  more,  making 
727  pounds  in  all.  Now,  in  taking  these  727  pounds  of 
the  phosphate,  as  each  hundred  has,  besides  the  phosphoric 
acid,  3|-  pounds  of  ammonia,  we  have  at  the  same  time  3|- 
per  cent  of  727  pounds  of  this  element,  =  25  pounds :  we 
have  thus  obtained  all  the  phosphoric  acid  needed  in  our 
formula,  and  (60  —  25  =  35)  all   but   35   pounds  of  the 


FERTILIZERS.  95 

ammonia.  As  the  ammonia  in  the  phosphate  was  doubt- 
less from  bone,  let  us  get  the  remainder  from  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  which  is  a  form  in  which  it  will  act  more 
promptly,  and  start  the  crop,  while  that  from  bone  will 
feed  it  later  in  the  season.  Now,  sulphate  of  ammonia 
contains  25  per  cent  pure  ammonia :  therefore  we  get  our 
remainder  of  ammonia  in  about  ||  of  a  hundred  pounds, 
:=  140  pounds  of  sulphate  of  ammonia.  Passing  next  to 
the  potash  needed,  viz.,  80  pounds,  let  us  get  part  of  it 
in  muriate  of  potash,  and  part  from  wood  ashes,  where  the 
potash  is  the  carbonate  of  potash.  80  per  cent  of  muriate 
of  potash  contains  just  above  50  per  cent  (50.46)  of  pure 
potash.  Taking  a  hundred  pounds  of  this,  and  we  have 
remaining,  to  be  got  from  unleached  ashes,  88  —  50,  =  38 
pounds.  Now,  a  hundred  pounds  of  unleached  wood 
ashes,  containing  about  7  per  cent  of  carbonate  of  potash, 
would  contain  about  |  as  much  of  pure  potash.  |  of  7  = 
4i  pounds ;  38  -^  4^  =  9^  hundred  pounds  nearly.  As 
unleached  wood  ashes  weigh  about  45  pounds  to  the 
bushel,  in  9J  hundred  pounds  there  would  be  about  21 
bushels.  Now,  using  these  ashes,  we  have  also  brought 
with  them  some  phosphoric  acid,  for  wood  ashes  unleached 
has  about  two  per  cent  of  it ;  therefore  in  our  21  bushels 
we  should  have  21  X  2  =  42  pounds.  Let  us  take 
away  sufficient  of  the  bone  to  allow  for  the  42  pounds. 
As  the  boiffe  has  11  per  cent,  we  will  drop  as  many  hun- 
dred pounds  as  11  is  contained  in  42,  =  4  nearly.  But,  in 
dropping  these  450  pounds  of  bone,  we,  of  course,  drop 
also  the  ammonia  contained  in  it,  which  would  be  4 J  X  3^, 
=  16  pounds  nearly.  To  get  this  16  pounds  of  am- 
monia, we  will  take  some  dried  blood,  which  analyzes  13 
per  cent  ammonia.  It  would  require  ^|  of  100  pounds  of 
this,  =  133  pounds  nearly.  Now,  bringing  all  the  sources 
together,  and  we  have 


96  FERTILIZERS. 

Lba. 

Acid  phosphate 727  —  450  =  277 

Sulphate  of  ammonia    .......       88 

Unleached  wood  ashes 950 

Dried  blood 133 

1,448 

We  have  for  our  formula,  which  called  for  1,000  pounds 
of  a  fertilizer  containing  ammonia,  6  per  cent,  potash,  8 
per  cent,  and  phosphoric  acid,  8  per  cent,  a  compound 
containing  1,448  pounds.  I  know  that  the  question  will  at 
once  occur  to  my  farmer  friends.  How  can  this  be  correct, 
as  only  1,000  pounds  were  called  for?  True,  but  that  was 
to  be  of  a  given  strength,  while  the  elements  in  this  will 
not  average  as  rich  as  the  elements  in  that,  and  therefore 
more  bulk  is  required.  If,  instead  of  taking  the  ashes,  we 
had  taken  our  entire  supply  of  potash  from  the  muriate, 
then  the  result  would  have  been  a  compound  weighing 
less  than  1,000  pounds,  for  the  reason  that  the  average  of 
the  materials  would  have  been  richer.  This  illustration, 
which  I  have  purposely  made  to  cover  about  all  possible 
variations,  covers  the  whole  matter  of  compounding  our 
own  formulas.  What  we  now  need  to  ascertain  is,  where 
we  can  get  our  own  raw  materials  the  cheapest.  The 
various  facts  presented  in  other  portions  of  this  treatise, 
especially  under  the  heads  of  "  Potash,"  "  Nitrogen,"  and 
"  Phosphoric  Acid,"  with  the  tables  to  be  found  on  pp. 
Ill  and  112,  will  inform  us  from  what  source  to  obtain 
the  cheapest  materials  needed  to  compound  these  or  any 
other  formulas. 

SOME  FORMULAS  AS  COMPOUNDED 

I  herewith  present  the  way  I  have  compounded  several 
formulas  for  my  own  use,  not  as  the  wisest  course  in  the 
selection  of  material,  but  as  suggestive  in  the  variety  of 


FERTILIZERS.  97 

substances  from  which  the  three  elements  are  obtained. 
The  per  cent  of  ammonia,  potash,  and  phosphoric  acid  is 
the  same  for  each  variety  of  vegetable  as  those  given  in  the 
table  on  p.  92.  The  quantity  applied  has,  in  each  case, 
the  larger  amount.  The  "  Ames  bone  "  is  an  honest  super- 
phosphate made  by  a  reliable  neighbor,  A.  L.  Ames  of 
Peabody,  Mass.  I  will  here  say,  that,  while  on  old  land,  I 
have  had  excellent  results  from  the  potato  fertilizer  four 
years  in  succession,  raising  crops  that  averaged,  with  differ- 
ent years,  from  200  to  317  bushels  per  acre  in  fields  con- 
taining eight  acres,  on  pasture  land  broken  up  for  the  first 
time,  the  results  have  not  been  so  satisfactory. 


FORMULAS  OF  FERTILIZERS. 

Pease  for  One  Acre. 
{Half  harrowed  in,  Half  in  Drill.) 
600  lbs.  Ames  bone.  (  250  lbs.  muriate  of  potash. 

40  lbs.  dried  blood. 

Potatoes  for  One  Acre. 

500  lbs.  Ames  bone,  in  drill.  I     75  lbs.  cotton-seed  meal,  or  50  Ibi 

50     "    sulphate  ammonia,  in  drill.   I  guano,  in  drill. 

200  lbs.  muriate  of  potash,  in  drill. 

Vegetable  Vines  for  One  Acre. 

{Three-fourths  harrowed  in,  One-fourth  in  Drill.) 

600  lbs.  Ames  bone.  i  100  lbs.  dried  blood. 

100    "    sulphate  ammonia.         |  200    *'    cotton-seed  meaL 

200  lbs.  miu-iate  of  potash. 

Carrots  or  Beets  for  One  Acre. 

{Harrowed  in. ) 

400  lbs.  Ames  bone.  I  100  lbs.  dried  blood. 

100    "    sulphate  ammonia.         I  200    '*    cotton-seed  meaL 

160  lbs.  muriate  of  potash. 


98  FERTILIZERS. 

Beans  for  One  Acre. 
{Half  harrowed  in,  Half  in  Drill. ) 
550  lbs.  Ames  bone.  |  33  lbs.  sulphate  ammonia, 

110  lbs.  muriate  of  potash. 

Hungarian  for  One  Acre. 
{Harrowed  in.) 
400  lbs.  Ames  bone.  |  150  lbs.  muriate  of  potash. 

50  lbs.  sulphate  of  ammonia. 

Corn  for  One  Acre. 
{Half  harrowed  in,  Half  in  Drill). 
600  lbs.  Ames  bone.  i       160  lbs.  sulphate  of  ammonia. 

200    "    cotton-seed  meal.  |       180    "    muriate  of  potash. 

Grass  for  One  Acre. 
{Harrowed  in. ) 
400  lbs.  Ames  bone.  I       150  lbs.  muriate  of  potash. 

100    "    dried  blood.  I      100    *'    sulphate  of  ammonia. 

Onions  for  One  Acre. 
(Raked  in  before  Ploughing.) 


700  lbs.  Ames  bone. 
100  **  dried  blood. 
400    "   cotton-seed  meal. 


200  lbs.  muriate  of  potash. 
*  250    * '    sulphate  ammonia,  or  300 
guano. 


Oats  for  One  Acre. 
{Harrowed  in. ) 


300  lbs.  Ames  bone. 
150    "    dried  blood. 
25    "    sulphate  of  ammonia. 


35   bushels   unleached   hard-wood 
ashes. 


CONDENSATION  OF  SPECIAL  AND  OTHER  FORMULAS. 

Professor  George  H.  Cook,  of  the  New  Jersey  experi- 
mental station,  gives  five  formulas,  which  contain  the 
three  elements  in  about  the  same  proportion  as  they  were 
found  by  analysis  to  exist  in  seventy-two  different  brands 
of  fertilizers,  of  which  thirty-six  were  sold  specially  for 
various  crops,  such  as  potatoes,  corn,  buckwheat,  etc.    In 

•  To  slide  in  when  they  begin  to  bottom. 


FERTILIZERS.  99 

calculating  the  proportions  of  crude  materials  to  use  in 
making  up  a  ton  of  fertilizer  by  either  of  these  formulas,  it 
was  assumed  that  — 

Sulphate  of  ammonia  contains  20  per  cent  of  nitrogen. 


Nitrate  of  soda  contains 

16 

(^ 

it 

<i 

(( 

Blood  and  ammonite  contain 

12 

« 

« 

tt 

({ 

Bone-black  superphosphate 

contains 

16 

a 

<( 

tt 

availab] 

Acid  phosphate  from  South 

Carolina  rock  contains 

12 

<< 

tt 

tt 

(( 

Muriate  of  potash  contains 

50 

it 

(( 

it 

potash. 

Kainite  contains 

12 

n 

n 

<< 

a 

No  difficulty  will  be  experienced,  says  the  professor,  in 
securing  supplies  of  these  guaranteed  to  contain  the  above 
percentages  of  plant-food. 

Class  No.  1.  —  This  is  a  small  class,  containing  three 
brands,  and  includes  all  of  the  fertilizers  in  which  the  guar- 
anteed nitrogen  does  not  exceed  one  per  cent. 

Class  No.  2.  —  This  is  a  large  class,  containing  twenty- 
four  different  fertilizers,  of  which  sixteen  are  intended  for 
general  use,  and  eight  are  specially  designed  for  fruit, 
tobacco,  potatoes,  lawn-dressing,  hops,  and  buckwheat. 

Class  No.  3.  —  This  class  includes  eighteen  different 
fertilizers,  of  which  eleven  are  for  general  use,  and  seven 
are  specially  designed  for  sorghum,  potatoes,  etc. 

Class  No.  4.  —  This  class  includes  twenty-one  different 
fertilizers,  of  which  five  are  for  general  use,  and  sixteen 
are  specially  designed  for  grain,  tobacco,  potatoes,  and 
vegetables  in  general. 

Class  No.  5. — This  contains  six  fertilizers,  of  which 
five  are  for  special  crops,  —  tobacco,  lawn-dressing,  grain, 
and  vegetables. 

The  value  of  the  plant-food  in  an  unmixed  condition, 
given  in  each  formula,  was  calculated  by  using  the  manu- 
facturers' average  retail  prices  for  1884. 


100  FERTILIZERS. 

Class  No.  1. 

To  make  One  Ton  when  mixed  together.  Containing  Lbs.  of 

Blood 110  lbs.  Nitrogen.     13.2,  or  0.66%  of  ton. 

South  Carolina  rock  (treated 

with  acid) 1,600   "  Phos.  acid,    192.0,  "9.60%    " 

Kainite 250  "  Potash      .     30.0,  "1.50%    " 

Total     . 1,960  lbs. 

Cost  of  materials  unmixed $19.36. 

Class  No.  2. 
To  make  One  Ton  when  mixed  together.  Containing  Lbs.  of 

Nitrate  Of  soda ^^  ^^f' [  Nitrogen  .  32.80,  or  1.64%  of  ton. 

Ammonite 140   "    )           *                                ' 

South  Carolina  rock  (treated 

with  acid) 1,400"      Phos.  acid,  168.00,  "8.40%    " 

Muriate  of  potash  .     ...         50"    }  potash      .    61.00,  "3.05%    " 
Kainite 300  "    > 

Total 1,990  lbs. 

Cost  of  materials  unmixed $21.49. 

Class  No.  3. 

To  make  One  Ton  when  mixed  together.  Containing  Lbs.  of 

Sulphate  of  ammonia      .     .         50  lbs.  \ 

Nitrate  of  soda 100  "    >  Nitrogen  .    47.0,  or  2.35%  of  ton. 

High-grade  blood  ....       175   "    ) 
South  Carolina  rock  (treated 

with  acid) 1,450"      Phos.  acid,   174.0,  "8.70%    " 

Muriate  of  potash.     ...       125   "    \^^^^^^      ,     74.5,  "3.78%    " 
Kainite 100  "    >  '  ' 

Total 2,000  lbs. 

Cost  of  materials  unmixed $25.31. 

Class  No.  4. 

To  make  One  Ton  when  mixed  together.  Containing  Lbs.  of 

Sulphate  of  ammonia  .     .     .        100  lbs.  \ 

Nitrate  of  soda 100  "    [Nitrogen.  72.00,  or  3.60%  of  ton. 

High-grade  blood    ...        300   "    ) 

Bone-black  superphosphate .       940  "      Phos.  acid,  150.00,  "7.50%    " 

Muriate  of  potash  .     ...        100"    I  potash     .  110.00,  "  5.50  %    " 
Kainite 500  "    J  ' 

Total 2,040  lbs. 

Cost  of  materials  unmixed $27.46. 


FERTILIZERS.  101 


Class  No.  5. 

To  make  One  Ton  when  mixed  together.  Coatajnjnp;  l^%i<^ 

Sulphate  of  ammonia  .    .     .  150  lbs.  ^ 

Nitrate  of  soda 200   "  >  Nitrogen,  104. 'X),  or 5^29% of  tc0. 

High-grade  blood     .    i    ,    ,  350  "  )  ..•,!.,.',     >,-*•,:• 

Bone-black  superphosphate .  875   "  Phos.  acid,  140.00,  "7.00%    " 

Muriate  of  potash    ....         75   ^-^  }^^^^^         80.00,  "4.00%    " 

Kainite 350  "  )  '  ' 

Total 2,000  lbs. 

Cost  of  materials  unmixed $31.06. 

HOW    TO    MIX   THE    INGREDIENTS    THAT     ENTER    INTO    A 

FORMULA. 

Now  let  US  try  our  hand  at  mixing  together  the  ingredi- 
ents that  enter  into  a  formula.  As  a  base  from  which  to 
start,  I  have  taken  a  local  superphosphate  made  honestly 
by  Mr.  A.  L.  Ames  of  Peabody,  Mass.,  and  have  added  to 
this,  plant-food  from  various  sources.  In  mixing  the  vari- 
ous ingredients  together,  you  will  need  a  sieve  as  fine  again 
as  a  common  coal-sieve.  Having  cleared  a  place  upon  the 
barn  floor,  and  having  decided  upon  quantities  of  each 
element  needed,  first  weigh  these  out,  and  have  them  near 
at  hand  ;  next,  sift  each  lot  that  needs  sifting,  by  itself 
separately,  breaking  up  with  your  feet  or  the  back  of  the 
shovel  all  lumps  that  will  not  pass  through  the  sieve. 
Now  begin  with  the  element  you  need  most  of,  and  sift  a 
portion  of  it  evenly  over  a  circle  of  sufficient  width  so  that 
the  first  layer  will  not  be  over  an  inch  in  depth.  Follow 
with  the  next,  using  about  the  same  proportions  as  of  the 
first,  and  thus  on  until  you  have  a  proportion  of  each.  Go 
back  again  and  repeat  the  process,  until  the  quantities 
weighed  out  are  used  up.  If  the  entire  mass  is  but  six  or 
eight  inches  in  depth,  it  will  mix  the  easier.  To  mix,  an 
iron-toothed  rake  may  be  used ;  cutting  it  down,  and  mixing 
it,  and  ending  by  throwing  it  together  with  a  shovel,  if 
well  mixed,  the  entire  mass  will  be  of  a  uniform  color.     In 


102  '  FERTILIZERS. 

many  fertilizers,  as  I  have  stated  before,  all  forms  of  pot- 
ash, excfipv  tho .  carbonate  which  is  found  in  wood  ashes, 
ajid  one  form  of  crude  potash,  can  be  safely  mixed  with 
diiy  !fer tilizer  without  loss  of  ammonia.  My  farmer  friends 
will  remember  that  I  have  before  this  recommended  that 
potash  in  any  form  would  be  likely  to  do  most  good  if 
spread  on  in  the  late  autumn  or  early  in  the  spring.  When 
wood  ashes  are  used  as  a  source  of  potash  in  formulas,  I 
would  spread  it  separately,  harrowing  it  in,  and  raking  in 
the  remainder  of  the  formulas. 

APPLYING  FERTILIZERS. 

A  man  needs  a  little  experience  to  get  them  evenly  dis- 
tributed. It  is  well  to  practise  a  bit  at  first.  Suppose,  for 
instance,  we, want  to  scatter  six  hundred  pounds  over  an 
acre  of  land :  that  would  be  one  pound  to  every  seventy- 
two  square  feet,  or  a  piece  of  land  about  eight  and  a  half 
by  eight  and  a  half  feet.  If  we  desire  to  strew,  say,  three 
hundred  pounds  in  the  drill,  the  drills  being  three  feet  apart, 
there  would  be  about  fourteen  thousand  feet  of  drill  to  the 
acre,  which  would  give  one  pound  to  about  forty-five  feet 
of  row.  One  trouble  to  be  met  with  in  distributing  fer- 
tilizers is  the  wind,  which  during  the  planting-season  is 
apt  to  begin  to  blow  as  soon  as  the  air  gets  warm  in  the 
morning,  generally  slacking  up  toward  night.  It  is  best, 
therefore,  when  possible,  to  put  several  hands  on  to  spread 
them,  either  early  in  the  morning,  or  toward  the  close  of 
day.  Otherwise,  it  would  be  well  to  have  a  few  buckets 
of  water  handy,  and  pour  into  the  barrels  enough  at  a 
time  to  gently  moisten  by  stirring  the  contents  of  each, 
being  careful  to  have  them  dry  enough  to  distribute  freely. 
To  mix  them  in  the  drill  so  that  they  will  not  burn  the 
seed,  I  use  often  the  thick  top  of  a  cedar-tree  to  which  a 
stone   has   been   securel}^  fastened.     This,  dragged   once 


FERTILIZERS.  103 

through  the  bottom  of  the  furrow,  will  mix  Peruvian 
guano,  or  any  fertilizer,  so  thoroughly  that  it  will  not 
injure  the  seed.  It  has  been  found  in  practice,  and  is  now 
generally  advocated  by  dealers  in  fertilizers,  that,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  it  is  a  better  plan  to  use  barn  manure  and  fertil- 
izers together  on  the  same  crop,  as  far  as  circumstances  will 
permit ;  using  the  barn  manure  broadcast,  and  the  fertilizers 
in  the  drill  or  hill,  to  give  the  crop  a  start.  In  my  own 
practice  I  have  not  paid  much  respect  to  the  rule,  and 
thus  far  am  very  well  satisfied  with  the  results.  I  believe 
that  farmers,  as  a  general  rule,  would  do  better  for  many 
crops  to  use  their  manure  on  their  grass,  and  so  get  a  good 
sward,  and  depend  on  this,  turned  under,  for  the  bulky 
vegetable  matter  when  using  fertilizers ;  for  most  of  the 
difference  between  fertilizers  and  barn  manure  is  the 
presence  of  a  bulky  mass  of  vegetable  matter  in  the  latter, 
which  not  only  acts  mechanically  to  lighten  heavy  soils, 
but  frees  the  plant-food  locked  up  in  all  soils;  and  this 
the  sward  would  supply. 

THE   SYSTEM  OF   MANURING  V7ITH    UNLEACHED  WOOD 

ASHES. 

The  firm  that  probably  sells  the  most  unleached  ashes 
in  New  England  and  the  Middle  States,  Messrs.  Munroe, 
Judson,  &  Stroup,  Oswego,  N.Y.,  gives  the  following  direc- 
tions for  its  use.  As  I  know  that  excellent  crops  have 
been  raised  by  following  a  portion  of  their  instructions,  I 
will  give  them  in  full  under  their  proper  heads;  though 
we  must  remember,  that,  although  ashes  contain  all  the 
mineral  elements  in  plant-food,  it  is  wholly  lacking  in 
nitrogen,  and  there  must  come  a  time  when,  the  accumu- 
lation in  the  soil  having  been  used  up,  most  crops  will  need 
to  have  nitrogen  fed  to  them  in  the  manure.  They  advise 
for  all  crops,  to  apply  heavily  the  first  year  the  full  dollar 


104  FERTILIZERS. 

value  you  would  use  of  stable  manure,  and  in  after-years 
give  a  light  dressing.  The  effect  of  ashes  lasts  two  or 
three  times  as  long  as  stable  manure.  They  are  especially 
valuable  for  fruit-trees,  fruit,  grass,  onions,  cabbage,  melons, 
cucumbers,  and  potatoes.  A  thorough  application  calls  for 
from  45  to  200  bushels  per  acre. 

For  Strawberries.  —  Apply,  in  early  fall  or  before, 
40  to  125  bushels  per  acre,  spading  in  a  little  bone  before 
they  start  in  the  spring. 

For  Potatoes.  —  Scatter  from  21  to  57  bushels  a  foot 
wide  over  the  drills  after  they  are  covered. 

For  Corn.  —  Harrow  in  40  to  80  bushels  per  acre  be- 
fore planting ;  and,  after  covering  the  seed,  spread  15  to 
28  bushels  on  the  top  of  the  hills,  covering  a  strip  a  foot 
wide. 

For  Lawns,  Meadows,  or  Pastures.  —  In  fall  or 
early  spring,  or  soon  after  haying,  spread  from  25  to  125 
bushels.  If  125  are  used,  no  more  will  be  needed  for  sev« 
eral  years. 

In  Laying  down  to  Grass.  —  Broadcast  45  to  225 
bushels,  in  summer  or  fall,  to  give  it  time  to  leach  down- 
Next  year  plant  with  potatoes,  top-dressing  with  from  12 
to  18  bushels  per  acre.  Next  year  sow  to  wheat  or  rye, 
and  lay  down  to  grass.  No  more  fertilizer  needed  for 
eight  or  ten  years,  when  the  largest  quantity  is  used. 

For  Wheat,  Rye,  and  Oats.  —  Broadcast  from  85  to 
170  bushels  in  November,  and  plough  slightly  under.  In 
spring  plough  deeper,  throwing  it  up  to  the  surface,  and 
harrowing  it ;  or,  for  the  immediate  crop,  20  bushels  may 
be  harrowed  in,  in  the  spring:  but  in  the  long  run  the 
larger  use  will  be  the  more  profitable. 

For  Onions.  —  Broadcast  from  45  to  250  bashels  in  the 
fall,  and  plough  them  just  under.  In  the  spring  plough 
them  back  to  the  surface,  and  harrow.     If  250  bushels  are 


FERTILIZERS.  105 

used,  40  will  do  for  the  second  year,  60  for  the  third,  and 
85  for  the  fourth. 

For  Cabbage  and  Cauliflower.  —  Use  from  125  to 
200  bushels  in  early  spring,  harrowing  it  into  the  ploughed 
land.  After  the  plants  are  four  inches  high,  put  half  a 
pint  around  each  hill  before  hoeing.  By  such  an  applica 
.tion,  cabbage  can  be  raised  several  years  in  succession  on 
the  same  soil.  Apply  40  bushels,  broadcast,  the  second 
year,  60  the  third,  and  85  the  fourth ;  using  also  some  each 
year  in  the  hill. 

For  Cucumbers  and  Melons.  —  Harrow  in  88  bush- 
els, and  scatter  a  pint  over  the  top  of  each  hill. 

fertilizers  excellent  for  various  crops,  and  sug- 
gestions. 

For  Strawberries,  Raspberries,  Peaches,  and 
Pears,  and  the  Fruit  Garden  and  Orchard  Gen- 
erally.—  There  has  been  found  nothing  more  satisfactory 
than  the  phosphoric  acid  and  potash,  with  but  a  small 
quantity  of  nitrogen.  Bone  that  has  been  treated  with  acid 
will  act  at  once,  but  coarse  steamed  bone  is  more  enduring. 
I  have  a  pear-orchard  in  land  that  has  naturally  a  good  sup- 
ply of  potash,  that,  being  in  a  sickly  condition,  I  treated 
to  coarse  steamed  bone  eight  years  ago,  with  the  result 
of  producing  a  good  growth  of  wood,  and  noble  crops  of 
fruit,  while  I  could  cut  two  good  crops  under  it  annually 
ever  since.  (See  Mr.  Hunt's  remarks,  on  p.  67,  on  the 
advantage  of  the  bone  and  potash  application  to  such 
fruits.)  It  appears  to  be  settled  that  the  "  yellows  "  on  the 
peach-trees  is  caused  by  want  of  nourishment,  there  being 
especially  a  lacking  of  potash.  Diseased  trees  have  been 
cured  by  a  liberal  application  of  it. 

Professor  Penhallow  advises,  after  stirring  the  soil,  to 
apply  per  acre  the  following  mixture,  viz.,  sulphate  of  mag- 


106  FERTILIZERS. 

nesia  (hieresite),  25  pounds;  muriate  of  potash,  100  to 
150  pounds  ;  dissolved  bone-black,  450  pounds :  omitting  a 
space  of  a  foot  all  about  the  tree.  Instead  of  the  muri- 
ate, probably  10  bushels  of  unleached  wood  ashes,  with  a 
peck  of  waste  salt,  might  be  used.  Dr.  Nichols  recom- 
mends the  following  as  a  good  stock  fertilizer,  a  good  com- 
bination for  all  crops,  five  hundred  pounds  to  be  applied 
to  the  acre.  While  he  considers  superphosphates  as  good 
for  all  crops,  he  considers  them  especially  good  for  roots 
and  cereals. 

Llw. 

Superphosphate  of  lime  .        .        •        •        .        .        .40 

Sulphate  of  ammonia 25 

Muriate  of  potash  .  ...•••.  25 
Sulphate  of  lime  (plaster)  .  .  •  ,  .  .7 
Sulphate  of  magnesia 3 

For  Asparagus.  —  J.  B.  Moore,  the  well-known  market 
gardener,  has  an  acre  and  a  half  of  asparagus  on  soil  nat- 
urally very  poor,  mere  pitch-pine  land,  which  has,  since 
broken  up  from  nature,  received  no  other  dressing  than 
phosphate  of  lime  and  potash.     It  is  remarkably  thrifty. 

For  Pasture-Land.  —  Raw  ground  bone  will  restore 
to  the  soil  the  phosphate  of  lime  that  has  been  carried  away 
in  the  milk  and  in  the  bones  of  the  young  calf.  Use  finely 
ground  bone  (not  treated  with  acid)  at  the  rate  of  four  hun- 
dred to  five  hundred  pounds  per  acre,  and  the  effects  will 
be  seen  for  years.  It  is  better  to  double  the  productive- 
ness of  a  pasture  than  to  double  the  area  of  it. 

For  Fruit-Trees  in  Pasture-Land.  —  To  Professor 
Maynard,  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  I  be- 
lieve the  public  will,  as  years  go  on,  realize  that  they  owe 
a  great  debt.  The  professor  was  the  first,  as  far  as  I  am 
aware,  to  agitate,  and  carry  out  in  practice  on  some- 
thing of  a  large  scale,  the  idea  of  using  for  orcharding, 


FERTILIZERS.  107 

waste  land,  rocky  pastures,  and  hillsides  which  neither 
the  plough  nor  manure  cart  could  reach.  This  was  made 
practicable  by  the  use  of  commercial  fertilizers.  The 
professor's  plan  is,  in  brief,  to  dig  holes  three  or  four  feet 
across,  throwing  out  the  earth  to  the  requisite  depth,  and 
then,  with  picks,  loosening  the  soil  eighteen  inches  deeper 
if  practicable.  Make  a  mixture  of  half  bone,  half  potash, 
and,  when  planting,  scatter  about  four  good  handfuls  over 
the  soil  thrown  out  before  planting,  and  as  much  more  in 
the  holes  when  they  are  half  filled  up  with  earth.  Mulch 
with  waste  hay  or  tan.  Apply  the  same  amount  of  manur- 
ing yearly  for  a  few  years,  until  the  trees  are  well  estab- 
lished and  in  a  thrifty  condition.  I  have  planted  a  hundred 
or  more  trees  in  this  way  on  my  waste  hilly  pasture-land, 
and  am  thus  far  pleased  with  their  promise. 

In  Laying  Land  down  to  Grass.  —  Finely  ground 
bone  harrowed  in  at  the  time  of  laying  down,  at  the  rate 
of  from  five  hundred  to  a  thousand  pounds  to  the  acre, 
will  be  found  to  be  an  excellent  manure,  and  a  lasting  one. 
If  the  bone  is  stet^med,  it  can  be  used  in  a  coarser  state.  If 
the  grass  is  light  upland  (such  land  is  better  for  corn  than 
grass),  then  have  half  of  the  bone  in  the  form  of  acid 
phosphate.  When  wood  ashes  are  accessible,  test  your 
upland,  and  manure  a  portion  with  a  mixture  of  the  two, 
using  value  for  value  of  each,  and  be  governed  in  the 
future  by  the  results.  In  bone  and  ashes  we  have  a  com- 
plete manure,  all  of  the  three  elements  being  present. 

For  Corn.  —  In  the  valuable  experiments  inaugurated 
by  the  Connecticut  experimental  station,  in  the  experi- 
ments with  barn  manures  and  various  fertilizers  on  corn,  it 
was  found  that  the  mixture  of  three  hundred  pounds  of 
superphosphate  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of 
muriate  of  potash  gave  the  greatest  profit,  though  not  the 
largest  crop ;  the  average  yield  in  fifty-three  experiments 


108  FEETILIZERS. 

being  a  little  over  fifty  bushels  of  shelled  corn  to  the  acre, 
while  the  cost  of  the  fertilizers  was  not  over  eight  dollars. 
A  mixture  of  either  fish  or  Lobos  guano  and  muriate  of  pot- 
ash  has  proved  an  excellent  manure  for  large  crops  of  corn. 
Try  it  at  the  rate  of  five  hundred  pounds  of  either  variety 
of  guano  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  the  potash. 

For  Potatoes.  —  The  summing-up  of  many  experiments 
made  over  a  large  area  of  country  was,  that  the  best 
manure  for  potatoes  is  five  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of 
Peruvian  or  fish  guano,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pound  of  muriate  of  potash. 

For  Cotton.  —  For  cotton  in  sandy  uplands,  the  fol- 
lowing mixture  is  said  by  Professor  Dabney  to  have  given 
excellent  results:  "20  bushels  dry  earth,  250  pounds  kai- 
nite,  400  pounds  pure  dissolved  animal  bone  (or  600  pounds 
acid  phosphate),  and  100  pounds  sulphate  of  ammonia,  well 
mixed :  500  to  1,000  pounds  to  the  acre." 

For  Wheat.  —  In  using  guano  on  wheat,  it  is  recom- 
mended to  use  one-third  in  the  drills  at  time  of  sowing ; 
one-third  early  in  the  spring,  to  be  lightly  harrowed  in ; 
and  one-third  just  before  a  rain,  when  the  plants  are  eight 
or  ten  inches  out  of  the  soil. 

For  Grass  or  Grain  Crop.  —  Where  finely  ground 

bone  only  is  used  (we  will  remember  there  is  no  potash  in 

this),  an  application  is  recommended  by  good  authority,  to 

vary  with  the  condition  of  the  soil,  of  from  600  to  1,200 

pounds  to  the  acre.     The  effect  of  this  will  be  seen  for 

several  years. 

composts. 

Our  farmer  friends  in  the  South  do  more  in  making  a 
class  of  composts  which  in^  their  composition  and  con- 
centration approach  commercial  fertilizers,  than  do  we  of 
the  North.  And  this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  when  on 
so   many   farms  they   have    cotton-seed,  so   rich    in    am- 


FERTILIZERS.  109 

monia  and  phosphoric  acid,  while  in  a  thickly  wooded 
region  there  must  be  plenty  of  ashes  to  supply  potash, 
and  almost  in  their  midst  lie  the  great  phosphate  beds  of 
North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  We  of  the  North, 
with  our  coarser  materials,  such  as  night-soil,  fish-waste, 
sea  manure,  and  the  like,  make  composts,  but  not  nearly 
so  rich,  or  approaching  so  near  in  character  to  the  commer- 
cial fertilizers  in  the  market.  Professor  Dabney  submits 
four  valuable  compost  formulas,  which  I  here  present : 

Formula  No.  1. 

Lbs. 

Stable  manure 800    . 

Cotton-seed 750 

Dissolved  bone 450 

2,000 

He  advises  in  substance  as  follows  :  Have  barn  manure 
two  inches  deep,  next  the  bone  two  inches,  and  then 
cotton-seed  four  inches.  Wet  the  mass  well  with  urine  if 
possible,  otherwise  with  water.  Continue  to  repeat  in 
same  order  until  all  the  material  is  used.  Cover  the  heap 
with  dry  earth  or  plaster.  In  from  three  to  seven  weeks 
the  fermentation  will  have  killed  the  cotton-seed.  When 
using,  pitch  over,  and  mix  thoroughly. 

For  Cotton.  —  For  cotton,  use  300  pounds  per  acre, 
half  in  the  furrow,  and  half  with  the  seed.  On  poor  soil, 
use  400  to  500  pounds,  — 150  pounds  with  the  seed. 

For  Corn.  —  Use  one  pint  to  the  hill.  If  the  land  is 
in  pretty  good  condition,  use  less.  On  sandy  pine  lands 
or  old  fields,  add  75  pounds  per  acre  of  muriate  of  potash. 
When  ashes  are  plenty,  substitute  these,  —  about  10 
bushels  unleached  hard-wood. 

For  Winter  Wheat.  —  Use  400  to  500  pounds  per  acre, 
adding  50  pounds  sulphate  of  potash  dissolved  in  water. 
If  the  season  is  backward,  add  in  the  spring  100  pounds 
nitrate  of  soda. 


110  FERTILIZERS. 

Formula  No.  2.  Lbs. 

Dry  muck,  peat,  or  soil 600 

Cotton-seed  (twenty-two  bushels) 600 

Acid  phosphate 600 

Muriate  of  potash 100 

Sulphate  of  ammonia 100 

2,000 
Compost  in  same  manner  as  No.  1 ;  the  muriate  of  potash 
and  sulphate  of  ammonia  being  dissolved  in  water,  and 
used  to  wet  the  heap. 

For  Wheat,  Rye,  or  Oats.  —  Three  hundred  pounds 
to  the  acre.     It  may  be  harrowed  in  with  the  grain. 

Formula  No.  3.  Lbs. 

Stable  manure 500 

Unburnt  marl 500 

Salt 200 

Dissolved  bones 500 

Sulphate  of  potash 150 

"        "  ammonia 150 

Mix  in  layers,  or  first  mixing  the  marl  and  salt  together 

thoroughly,  and  cover  with  it  the  compost  of  cotton-seed, 

stable  manure,  and  dissolved  bone ;  then  sprinkle  with  the 

solution  of  sulphate  of  ammonia,  and  turn  the  whole  over 

once  in  two  weeks  till  fermented.    Use  as  directed  for  Nos. 

1  and  2 

Formula  No.  4,  for  Tobacco.  Lbs. 

Stable  manure 1,000 

Sulphate  of  potash 300 

"        "  ammonia 100 

"        "  magnesia 100 

Dissolved  bone 400 

Land  plaster 100 

2^0 

Use  400  to  500  pounds  to  the  acre.  In  place  of  the  pot- 
ash, 80  bushels  of  hard-wood  ashes  may  be  substituted. 
Says  the  professor,  "  The  formula  for  tobacco  (No.  4)  is 
intended  for  those  sections  where  cotton  is  not  raised,  and 
lias  met  with  marked  success." 


FERTILIZERS. 


Ill 


•anpoiqo 

0.10 
0.10 

0.02 
0.01 

0.60 
0.10 

0.20 
1.40 

•ppv 

o|JoqdBoqj 

0.50 
0.50 
2.20 

0.10 
0.10 

0.03 
2.30 
0.20 

0.50 
0.20 
0.04 
0.10 

2.10 
1.50 
9.20 

0.50 
1.70 
2.20 

5.00 
6.90 
6.90 

•ppv 
ofjtiqding 

0.10 
6.70 

0.20 
0.50 

0.50 
4.10 
0.60 
0.04 

1.40 
0.10 

4.20 

41.90 

47.80 

•Bpog 

o'o''oo'''o'o''''         ,-H0l-'000'           'g'''r-i 

•qBB^OJ 

0.40 
0.40 
0.30 

0.20 
0.20 

0.04 
0.20 
0.04 

5.20 
0.10 
0.10 
0.30 

7.70 
1.10 
19.70 
23.20 
0.70 
0.90 
4.70 

0.40 

3.00 

•B|Ban3BK 

0'0''00'''0r-|00'''        T*.eO^'eO(M(N'           lllllo 

•amn 

o  'ooooo-H           'goMO                 c^gco  '«^c^^;g       '    '    •    >    '  t. 

•UOJI 

JO  apixo 
puBBUiraniv 

•aiqnioBui 
puB    Boiiig 

lO  t-;  OS  00  U3  OO  QO              O  CO  i-((M  O                         ■*  OKJ  M  OO  rH  <0  CO -^          i  "'^    i  ®    i 

•uaSoj^iK 

»«  CO  ■*  eO  eC  <M  (M  "*  r-l  <M        CO  00  CO  (N  O  r-l                                                            00  CO  t- Tjt  t- 00 

•qsy 

i-H  t- t- O  CO  05  to  ec                  r-l  »0  05  00  <M  00 

CCOrHOOjoddW;    '     '     •uJdc.-rHdw          •     II     III     I     I           1     1     •     •     1     • 

I— (  C^  ^        C^  t— -H"  t-                   00  iH              rH 

opuBSa  0 

tOeOrHOOCOrHWOJt^O         «^  00  CO  M  O  (N           ,,,,,,,,            ,,,,,, 

SSSISS^'^^'^S    S:^gSS^     1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1     1  1  1  1  •  1 

•iQVej^ 

.  - -      _  .  - 

Farm  Manure  and  Factory  Refuse :  — 

Stable  manure 

Hen  manure 

Night-soil, /?OM(Zre«e 

Swamp  muck,  fresh 

"      air-dry 

Pond  mud 

Marine  mud 

Catch-basin  sediment 

Shells  of  mollusks 

Shells  of  Crustacea 

Oyster-shell  lime 

Gas  lime 

Tobacco-stems 

Pine  straw  (dead  leaves  of  pines)      .... 

Spent  tan 

Spent  sumach 

Sugar-house  scum 

Ashes  and  Lime  Manures :  — 

Wood  ashes 

Leached  wood  ashes 

Ashes  of  cotton-seed  hulls 

Ashes  of  corn-cobs 

Ashes  of  bogs  and  peat 

Lime-kiln  ashes 

New  Jersey  green  marl  (average  of  all)    .    . 

Land  plaster  (gypsum) 

Fertilizers  Valuable  chiefly  for  their  Nitrogen  :  — 

Nitrate  of  soda 

Nitre-cake 

Sulphate  of  ammonia 

Dried  blood 

"Azotin" 

Dry-fish  guano 

112 


FERTILIZERS. 


•aupoiqo 

49.40 
1.60 
34.70 
10.40 
26.30 

37.70 

•PPV 
ouoqdsoqj 

^        rJ<N0Or;dr4                                                      O        J^  «  ^  ^  ^  §  ^  S  «  gj  ^  ^ 

•ppv 

oijnqding 

0.60 

46.50 
11.70 
46.50 
15.90 

2.70 
0.60 

1.40 
3.40 
2.20 

•Bpog 

(N                          t-              O  (N        .-i(N 
•     '     '     '      'd    '      1      '         d     '     '^t^    'dd          '     ' •     '     ' 

•qsB^oj 

0.30 

1.00 
2.00 

2.20 

62.30 
40.50 
30.50 
36.00 
13.10 
43.10 
23.50 
5.20 

1.50 
Trace 

•BisaugBH 

'    '    '    '    'd  •   '   '       '   '    'dS  ^S6      '   '   •   •   •    '2  'S  'S  ' 

-araiT 

0.2 

0.1 
4.2 

oTs 

3.6 

44.9 

37.7 

42.9 
30.1 
40.8 

•UOJI 

JO  aptxo 
puBBuininiv 

0.2 

0.1 
13.0 
0T5 

•8iqn[09ni 

pUB      B0I1I8 

"    ..    .i:^ 2'.S2       .2:^.^.dd.    -    '2 

•U9gOi?lJ^ 

5|5SS^|^S    ....  ..§2  :|....  .  .2"  .^^ 

•qsv 

•J8'}')BH 

oiubSjo 

1  1  1  1  ig  1  1  1     1  1  1  1  1  1  1^     1^  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  ig 

•aa^B^ 

46.00 
11.50 

20^20 

7.40 

14.20 

32.00 

0.11 

0.60 

6.20 
32.70 

9.60 
9.90 
5.00 

5.50 

11.60 

16.30 

7.40 

10.40 
19.60 

Fertilizers  Valuable  chiefly  for  their  Mtrogen  (con- 
cluded) :  — 

Half-dry  fish 

Fish  by  Goodale's  process    . 

Castor-pomace 

Cotton-seed  meal 

Tanking  and  slaughter-house  refuse     .... 

Malt  sprouts 

Hoof  and  horn  shavings 

Hair  manures 

Wool  waste r     ■ 

Potash  Salts  and  Waste  Products  with  Potash :  — 

Muriate  of  potash 

Sulphate  of  potash,  high  grade 

"         "       "        low        "        

'       acid 

Kainite 

Residue  from  prussiate  of  potash  manufacture. 

Saltpetre  waste    . 

Tobacco-stems 

Phosphatic  Materials :  — 

Bone  manures 

"     black 

"     ash 

Canadian  apatite 

Navassa  phosphate , 

South  Carolina  phosphate 

Curacao  guano 

Pelican  guano 

Orchilla  guano 

Phoenix  guano 

Caribbean-sea  guano 

Bat  guano 

FERTILIZERS.  113 

The  table  is  very  interesting  and  instructive,  and  will 
bear  a  good  deal  of  studying.  Notice  how  many  sub- 
stances, in  their  percentages  of  nitrogen,  potash,  and  phos- 
phoric acid,  approach  in  value  stable  manure.  Notice  that 
the  humus-making  capacity  (the  organic  matter)  of  dry 
muck  is  three  times  as  great  as  in  stable  manure.  To 
make  the  potash  and  lime  in  oyster-shells  and  mollusks 
available  for  plant-food,  they  must  be  burnt.  In  marine 
mud  it  is  probably  the  nitrogen  and  alumina  only  that  are 
available ;  the  mineral  matter,  mostly  fragments  of  shells, 
being  insoluble.  As  a  rule,  the  per  cent  of  organic  matter 
in  the  several  substances  is  a  measure  of  their  humus-mak- 
ing capacity.  Note  that  all  the  substances  that  are  the 
product  of  combustion  contain  no  nitrogen  :  combustion 
destroys  nitrogen. 

Corn-cobs,  as  will  be  seen,  are  amazingly  rich  in  potash  ; 
but  the  quantity  of  ashes  from  them  is  amazingly  small. 
The  potash  in  the  ashes  from  a  bushel  of  cobs  is  worth  a 
little  scant  of  one-third  of  a  cent.  Note  that  decayed  vege- 
table matter,  in  its  various  forms,  is  much  the  same  in  the 
proportions  of  the  three  elements. 

Let  us  bear  in  mind  that  the  nitrogen  in  the  different 
substances  varies  greatly  in  its  value,  depending  on  its 
availability :  for  instance,  that  in  horn,  hoof,  and  hair  is 
worth  not  over  ten  cents  per  pound,  while  that  from  blood, 
castor-pomace,  and  cotton-seed  meal  is  worth  not  far  from 
eighteen  cents.  Note  that  there  is  no  potash  in  the  lime 
manures,  phosphates,  and  phosphatic  guanos. 

The  following  table  is  copied  from  an  excellent  little 
pamphlet  on  the  cultivation  of  potatoes,  issued  by  the 
Mapes  Formula  Company,  158  Friend  Street,  New  York. 
It  shows  the  value  of  the  plant-food  taken  out  of  the  soil 
by  various  crops.  It  is  very  valuable  to  us  farmers,  by 
enabling  us  to  determine  whether  or  not  we  are  increas- 


114 


FERTILIZERS. 


ing  the  fertility  of  our  soils.  If  the  value  of  the  phosphoric 
acid,  potash,  and  nitrogen  in  the  plant-food  we  apply  is 
less  than  their  value  in  the  crop  we  take  off,  then  we  are 
robbing  our  land,  and  running  down  our  farms,  and  vice 
versa.  Take  wheat,  for  an  illustration.  The  value  of  these 
three  elements  in  both  stock  and  grain  taken  from  the  soil 
(assuming  that  one-half  of  the  nitrogen  is  obtained  from 
the  air)  is  34  cents  per  bushel,  or  f  8.50  in  a  crop  of 
twenty-five  bushels.  Now,  whether  we  are  improving  or 
robbing  our  land  turns  on  the  fact  of  our  having  put  on 
more  or  less  than  $8.50  in  fertilizers,  and  in  the  proportion 
indicated  by  the  analysis. 


ESTIMATES  OF  COST  OF  PLANT-FOOD  IN  CROPS. 


The  phosphoric  acid  and  potash  are  figured  at  the  full  quantities  contained  in  the 
crops;  but  the  nitrogen  is  figured  at  one-half  or  less,  asBummg  the  balance  to  be  fur- 
nished by  the  soil  and  atmosphere,  which  is  in  accordance  with  the  tendency  of  the 
results  of  modern  scientific  investigation. 

In  practice,  on  many  soils  half-rations  of  potash  are  ample;  but,  in  the  case  of  the 
phosphoric  acid,  its  deficiency  in  nearly  all  soils  calls  for  full  rations  to  be  supplied  from 
outside  sources. 


t  Nitrogen,  J    .    . 
One  bushel  wheat,  60  lbs.  ]  Phosphoric  acid 
Potash .     . 

The  natural  proportion  of  (  Kp^ric  acid 
straw     .    .    .    150  lbs.  j  p^^^g^jj      ^ 

Nitrogen,  ^ 
One  bushel  barley,  48  lbs.  I  Phosphoric  acid 
(  Potash  .    . 

The  natural  proportion  of    piosSric  acid 
^     straw     .    .    .      67  1bs.     ™X;>"f««^d 


One  bushel  rye . 


( Nitrogen,  | 
56  lbs.  I  Phosphoric  acid 
I  Potash .    . 


!  '"^trSw^'^P'^P^mZ*  1  PboTphoric  acid 
[     straw     .    .     .    nSlbs.Jp^^Jjj^     _ 

i  Nitrogen,  | 
I  One  bushel  oats,      32  lbs.  '  Phosphoric  acid 
I  (  Potash  .    . 

I  '^^IrlT'"^  P'°P°'fi??hf    PhoTp^hoVc  acid 
1^     straw     .    .    .      67  lbs.  j  p^^j^gijj      ^ 

'  One  bushel  Bhelled  corn,  ( K|hori^  acid, 
!  ^6  1^«-(Potash.    . 

i  The  natural  proportion  of  ( phoTohoric  acid 
«.    stover    .    .    .    107  lbs.  j  ™Pf  ^^^^  ^^^^^^ 


Al 


0.625  lbs.®  211  c.  pe 

0.475  -      - 

0.320 

0.360 

0.330 

0.945 

0.458 

0.321 

0.211 

0.104 

0.180 

0.860 

0.500 

0.468 

0.312 

0.140 

0.218 

0.906 

0.306 

0.200 

0.140 

0.186 

0.126 

0.593 

0.223 

0.306 

0.186 

0.126 

0.40e 

1.773 


®    H 

@  2l| 

@     9 

@    H 

@  2U 
@     9 
@     41 

@  2l| 
@     9 
@     41 

@  211 
@     9 
@     41 

@  2l| 

@  9 

@  41 

@  211 


t\ 


@  21 


@     41 

@   2li 
@     9 


15 


13 


16 


Cents, 
lb.,  13.28 

4.26  J  19  cts. 
1.36 
7.65 
2.97 
4.01 
9.56 
2.88 
0.89 
2.21 
1.62, 
3.65 
10.62 
4.21 
1.36) 
2.97 
1.96 
3.62 


1.80 

0.60 

3.95 

1.13 

2.50 

4.73 

2.75 

0.79 

2,67 

3.65, 

7.50  I 


14 


FERTILIZERS. 


115 


{  One  buBhel  potatoes  (tu- 
(     bere).    .    .    .      60  IbB. 

{One    buBhel   buckwheat, 
48  lbs. 
The  natural  proportion  of 
straw      ...      67  lbs. 

)  One  bushel  onions,  50  lbs. 


Dry-leaf  tobacco,  100  lbs. 


The  natural  proportion  of 
stalk  ....      87  lbs. 


Seed  cotton  (334  lbs.  lint), 
1,000  lbs. 


J  One  ton  meadow  hay  .  . 
\  One  bushel  pease,  60  lbs. 
I  One  bushel  beans,  62  lbs. 


!  Nitrogen,  i   .    .  0.097  lbs. 

Phosphoric  acid,  0.106  " 

Potash  ....  0.336  " 

( Nitrogen,  |   .     .  0.172  •' 

\  Phosphoric  acid,  0.273  " 

(Potash.     .    .    .  0.129  " 

I  Nitrogen  .    .    .  0.216  " 

Phosphoric  acid,  0.406  " 

Potash.     .     .    .  1.613  " 

!  Nitrogen,  i   .    .  0.053  " 

Phosphoric  acid,  0.077  " 

Potash.    .     .     .  0.084  «« 

( Nitrogen,  ^   .     .  1.944  " 

\  Phosphoric  acid,  0.595  " 

(  Potash  ....  5.634  " 

I  Nitrogen  .     .    .  1.305  " 

Phosphoric  acid,  1.186  " 

Potash.     .    .     .  3.717  " 

!  Nitrogen,  xV      •  2.583  •* 

Phosphoric  acid,  9.600  '« 

Potash.     .     .    .  11.066  " 

I  Nitrogen,  \    .     .  16.000  " 

Phosphoric  acid,  8.200  " 

Potash  ....  23.340  " 

!  Nitrogen,  jV     •  0.179  " 

Phosphoric  acid,  0.512  " 

Potash.     .     .    .  0.588  " 

!  Nitrogen,  -^^     .  0.210  " 

Phosphoric  acid,  0.734  " 

Potasb.    ,    .    .  «,.809  •• 


@  21J  c.  per 
@    9 
@    44 
@2l| 


Cents, 
lb..  2.06 


11 


@21 
@    9 
@    4J 
@2l| 

@    9 

@2l| 


t\ 


@21 
@    9 
@    4i 
@2U 
@    9 
@    4|. 
@2H 
@    9 
@    4i 
@21^ 
@    9 
@    4| 
@2U 
@    9 
@    4i 


0.95  ( 
1.32) 


4cts. 


15 


72 


3.66 

2.45' 

0.54 

4.59; 

3.65! 

6.85 

1.12 

0.69 

0.35 
41.31 

5.35 
23.94  ) 
27.73  ) 
10,67  I  54 
15.79  ) 
54.88 
86.40  I 
47.03 

3  18  ) 

0.74  !  $1.0311 
99.19  ) 

3.80) 

4.50  J  11  eta. 

2.49  ) 

4.46; 

6.60 

3.63 


$1.89 


jl4 
) 


A  PLEA  FOR  MERCY. 

Though  repeatedly  urged  to  write  this  treatise  by  the 
Essex  County  Agricultural  Society,  I  excused  myself  again 
and  again,  not  only  from  a  feeling  of  lacking  ability  to  do 
the  subject  full  justice,  but  also  for  the  solid  reason  that  it 
would  bring  down  on  my  defenceless  head  a  shower  of  cor- 
respondence asking  advice  and  instruction  on  the  many 
questions  which  will  arise  in  individual  experience  ;  for,  on 
a  subject  so  rich  in  its  many  phases,  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  write  a  work  that  would  anticipate  all  matter  in 
which  its  readers  might  like  information.  Now,  it  is  the 
most  natural  thing  in  the  world  that  my  good  friends 
should  desire  to  ask  these  questions :  I  should  were  I  in 
their  place.  But  if  they  will  please  turn  about,  and  put 
themselves  in  my  place,  and  consider  not  only  the  time 
that  would  be  required  to  perform  the  mere  manual  labor 
of  answering  such  letters,  but  the  thought  and  study  that 


116  FERTILIZERS. 

would  be  necessary  to  give  intelligent  replies,  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  they  would  unanimously  concede  to  me  the 
right  to  put  in  this  plea  for  mercy.  I  suppose  the  able  men 
at  the  head  of  our  experimental  stations  will  hardly  thank 
me ;  but  I  would,  sotto  voce,  suggest  to  my  friends,  that,  if 
questions  must  be  asked,  they  switch  the  vast  freight  on  to 
their  track,  and  so  send  them  to  abler  heads  and  freer  hands 
than  mine,  —  to  those  whose  business  it  is  to  make  such 
investigations  as  would  supply  the  facts  needed  in  the  an- 
swering of  this  class  of  questions.  Such  as  I  may  receive,  I 
propose  to  pigeon-hole  until  some  future  time,  when  I  may 
get  out  a  book  on  barn  manure  and  the  various  wastes 
used  as  manures  (in  which,  living  near  great  manufactur- 
ing centres,  I  have  chanced  to  have  a  large  experience), 
and,  either  in  the  body  of  such  treatise  or  in  its  closing 
chapters,  reply  to  my  correspondents- 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


DEC  13  »aj6 
NOV  23  1916 


FEB  10  1919 

JAN  2$  1968 

RECD  LD 


J!\W 


2V68-7P^ 


30m- 1,' 15 


YB   16599 


